Duke has a lot of haters, but I know it means you're doing something right if they're hating you.
Grayson Allen
The thing that you don't understand about college basketball until you're one or two seasons in - and something I've struggled with - is that you have to be 100 percent connected to your other four guys on the court at all times.
I don't feed off of the boos, I don't feed off anything like that... No one likes to get booed, no one likes to get cussed out, no one likes to get yelled at by 20,000 fans when you go places.
I learned how to prepare like a pro, how to recover like a pro, how to live like a pro while at Duke.
When I'm playing timid and afraid to make a mistake, then I'm not going to play well.
As a basketball player, you want to play. There's only so much stuff I can go over doing one-on-one drills in practice and watching the team and watching film.
I've come to learn that you could read through one hundred things, ninety of them could be positive, those ten negative ones are the ones you're going to remember, that are going to stand out.
In a lot of ways I would love to be another student and love to be looked at as a Duke student and a senior and psych major and someone on the basketball team instead of Duke's polarizing, lightning rod, Grayson Allen villain, all those types of things.
If I was doing something that I really, really enjoyed I want to be perfect at it and not make mistakes and do everything right. And when inevitably I made mistakes, because that's what humans do, I would get very angry, very disappointed, very discouraged.
In high school I would use that total defeat that I felt in any type of mistake to go to the gym. That's what made me such a hard worker.
Getting a degree from Duke University is an amazing accomplishment for me.
I really loved all my time at this university and so I hope it's seen how much I appreciate Duke. Not only playing basketball for Duke, but being a student at Duke, and I really am thankful for my time here.
I found my identity in Christ. When everything else around me was falling down I found my identity in God.
I play the game for the love that's in my heart, and as long as that's still there, I can go out there with nothing to fear.
I found the love that all my teammates had for me. I found the love that this Duke family, this Duke coaching staff, had for me. That's what sticks out to me because I know who I am today.
You probably know me best as a 4 year player, national champion, and graduate of Duke University, but I'm also a gamer, student, Christian, and a long time redditor.
Marshall Plumlee. One of the weirdest/greatest guys I've met.
I'm a firm believer that when something feels right, you go with it.
I love being a Duke student, and continuing to be part of the university culture is something I don't take for granted.
Competitiveness that I've had as a player, competitiveness that was pointed in the wrong direction and went over the line. It's obviously something that I needed to work on and address.
I think the NBA, they like competitive guys.
I think anyone who is also a fan of college basketball as well as the NBA, you have an opinion on Duke.
You don't go on nine-day road trips in college.
From the time I started playing... When I tried out for a team in sixth grade and on - I was always starting through high school.
You get into the game and you know you're probably not going to be in there long. It's like, while I'm in here, I better not mess up. That's the completely wrong mentality to have. That works against how I play because how I play is 150 percent, going all out, going crazy.
Food is such a basic need, and it is unfathomable to me that people still do not have adequate access.
Half of the basketball world thinks I'm this hothead, dirty player who can't get anything under control and probably thinks I'm arrogant and a selfish guy.
Being the competitive guy that I am, I can't get into individual battles like I have.
I got used to throwing a lot of lobs, got used to finding shooters, finding cutters. Each year at Duke I have had to score in different spots. I think that has helped me so much.
I can adjust to any situation.
I'm more of a quiet guy, relaxed, calmer off the court.
I'm someone who really thinks the game through, who has an IQ about the game, who studies the game, who knows a lot more than just running and jumping.
For me, just my heart was here at Duke. I just wanted to be here.
It's nice to score 20 points a game. It's also nice to end your season with a win.
If there's a loose ball, I'm going to dive and see if I can get it. That's just the way you play.
To me, every play counts. To me, how I play in individuals, how I play in practice, that's how I'm going to play in the game.
I really love Duke. My plan going in is to stay four years.
You don't want to put competitiveness and emotion away, so you learn to play with it. You learn to use it for your team.
I kind of got down on myself, and started putting all this pressure on myself to go out there and play well. And that's when I was playing my worst.
I think I'm so much of a better driver than I was when I first came to Duke; that's the biggest thing for me.
I would play like one minute or not even get in at all. I'd see on Twitter - people would say, 'I hate that Grayson Allen guy at the end of the bench.' I'm like, 'What did I do?! I was in the game for 30 seconds.'
I think the aggressive and loud way that I played in the championship game is kind of polarizing; you either love it or you hate it.
Something like missing a shot, and the next play you're thinking about it, or you give up a play on defense and you're thinking about it, you're frustrated about it, what's happening is that you're really thinking about yourself. You're not connected to the team. And you have to be connected, or those few plays add up.
I don't feel a need to prove anything or rewrite my legacy.
I'd rather have most of my life private. So, what you do see in me is on the court, and on the court, I am competitive. I'm an irritant to the other team. Emotional. Fired up. And so that's what people see, and that's what they judge off of.
I'm very appreciative to have the parents that I do have.
I'm confident about going out there and playing - playing with emotion, screaming and yelling.
I'm focused on the good things and that makes you really appreciate what you are doing with the team and the time you are out there on the court.
You think the end of my freshman year, from nobody really knowing who I was to skyrocketing onto the scene in the national championship game, there's nothing but good things to say after that. Then you get into the spotlight and it turns to hate.
If you watch college basketball growing up, you picture yourself in that moment, you picture yourself playing in the Final Four on a huge stage.
