The Duke Blue Devils opened the season at the top of ClutchPoints Preseason Top 25, and they looked the part after convincing 84-50 win over Army in their season opener. A familiar face was spotted on the Duke bench during the game: former Blue Devil Rodney Hood.

Afterwards, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer clarified Hood's role on the team this season. As Conor O'Neill reported on X, formerly Twitter, Hood is back in an intern coaching role.

Rodney Hood played just one season at Duke (in 2013-14) after transferring from Mississippi State. He averaged 16.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in his lone season in Durham and was named to the All-ACC team.

Hood went on to declare for the NBA Draft after season and was a first-round pick by the Utah Jazz. He wound up spending eight seasons in the league, with his last stop being the Los Angeles Clippers in 2022. He had a brief spell in the G League in 2024 before announcing his retirement later that year. Now, he appears ready to pursue a possible career in coaching.

As Scheyer mentioned, he was able to coach Hood when he returned to Duke in 2013 as a special assistant. Like Scheyer, Hood was a renowned 3-point shooter during his playing days.

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Perhaps the coaching staff will focus on the team's shooting during practice after their subpar performance in that area against Army. They finished just 4-of-22 on 3-pointers, with no player hitting more than one triple. Senior Caleb Foster, who suffered an injury last month, played against Army and finished with four points. He was the team's top 3-point shooter last season (40%) but went 0-of-3 in the opener.

The Blue Devils will be back in action on Thursday as they host Coastal Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium.