Duke’s Mason Gillis making March Madness history in Final Four
SAN ANTONIO — Years from now, Mason Gillis will be the answer to this trivia question:
Who was the first player to reach the Final Four in consecutive years with different teams?
Last April, the 6-foot-6 wing advanced to the sport’s big stage with Purdue.
This week, he’s in San Antonio as a Duke reserve.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” Gillis said Thursday as the Blue Devils prepared to face Houston on Saturday night in a national semifinal. “It’s been a blessing to be able to be in the position I’m in.”
Gillis came off the bench in his fourth season with the Boilermakers last winter, the same role he has with Duke.
His numbers have dropped this year slightly — going from 6.5 points to 4.2, 3.9 rebounds to 2.6 and 21.2 minutes to 15.0.
But stats can’t define his value, according to coach Jon Scheyer.
“If you look at our season, some of the toughest moments we’ve been in, the toughest spots, Mason has really won us the game,” Scheyer said of the New Castle, Ind., native. “You think about [Dec. 8] at Louisville, we’re down double digits. Cooper [Flagg] gets four fouls in the second half. Mason comes in, we make a comeback and we win.
“At Wake Forest, we’re down six in the second half. Mason comes in, hits the biggest 3 of the game. We win. Actually, our one loss [of 2025] we had was without Mason.”
On a team led by projected one-and-done lottery pick freshmen such as Flagg, Khaman Maluach and Kon Knueppel, experience has been vital for the Blue Devils. Gillis has been through all of this before.
When he opted to enter the transfer portal, Gillis could’ve found a school where there was more opportunity, a chance to pile up big numbers.
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But that didn’t interest him.
He wanted another crack at a national championship.
He will have that this weekend.
“It’s definitely a cool thing. Last year was Purdue’s first time making it to the Final Four since 1980, and that was a great thing,” Gillis said. “But we didn’t win it all. So leaving there, you leave with a bad taste in your mouth. I was able to have the opportunity to find another school to try to make it back here. Definitely a blessing, definitely a really cool thing, but we just got to keep our mind on the job at hand and come away with it all this year.”
As a sign of the transfer portal times, Gillis isn’t the only player in his second Final Four with a different team. Florida’s Alijah Martin will become the first player to start a Final Four game with two programs.
He made it with Florida Atlantic in 2023.
There will be others.
But Gillis will be the first to do it in consecutive seasons with two teams.
He’s hoping this trip ends with him cutting down the Alamodome nets.
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