ACC Basketball 2024-25 Summer Snapshot:
Duke Blue Devils

By Ben McCormick
North Carolina Sports Network

Head Coach: Jon Scheyer (36 years old, entering third season)

2023-24 Record: 27-9, 15-5 (second in ACC)

NCAA Tournament: #4 seed; eliminated in Elite Eight by NC State

Key 2024-25 Players (*=returning starter): freshman F Cooper Flagg, junior PG Tyrese Proctor*, freshman C Khaman Maluach, fifth-year G Sion James, sophomore G Caleb Foster, junior F Maliq Brown, sixth-year F Mason Gillis, freshman G/F Kon Knueppel, freshman G/F Isaiah Evans

Jon Scheyer’s first offseason was the exception in modern college basketball, not the rule.

Following the 2022-23 season, Duke had two NBA draft declarations, which is typical for the Blue Devils. What wasn’t common was Duke’s retention of its top four scorers, and its complete aversion to the transfer portal. Not a single Duke player entered the portal after the first year of the Scheyer Era, and the only addition from the portal was walk-on Neal Begovich.

Shortly after Duke’s season-ending Elite Eight loss to NC State in March, it became apparent that the Blue Devils were in for a wildly different offseason this year.

Sure enough, in April, Duke had a program-record seven players enter the transfer portal: Jeremy Roach (Baylor), Mark Mitchell (Missouri), Sean Stewart (Ohio State), TJ Power (Virginia), Jaylen Blakes (Stanford), Christian Reeves (Clemson) and Jaden Schutt (Virginia Tech).

Four of the portal departures transferred to intraconference ACC opponents, three of the seven are former McDonald’s All-Americans, and Roach and Mitchell are two of the most accomplished players to ever transfer from Duke. Roach, a four-year Duke starter with 1,469 career points, is near the top of that list.

On top of their portal losses, the Blue Devils lost their customary projected first-round picks to the NBA Draft, including consensus second-team All-American forward Kyle Filipowski and ACC All-Freshman guard Jared McCain. In addition, graduate big man Ryan Young ran out of eligibility after two years in Durham.

All that talent walking out the door left Duke with just two returning scholarship players: rising junior point guard Tyrese Proctor and rising sophomore wing guard Caleb Foster.

Duke had its likely starting backcourt for 2024-25 in place, but how would Scheyer build the rest of the roster?

“We lose in the Elite Eight, and you’re dealing with the heartbreak, the disappointment, the anger that you have, and you have to flip the page quick to take how you feel and then think about who you need,” Scheyer said on The Brotherhood Podcast in June. “Then, in the meantime, knowing the quicker you take care of that, the quicker you can then reset, debrief, figure out how to build.”

Thankfully for Duke, Scheyer already had done a lot of rebuilding on the high school recruiting trail.

Cooper Flagg, the top high school prospect in the Class of 2024 and a potential #1 overall NBA draft pick in 2025, will be the focal point of Duke’s 2024-25 squad. His diversity as a scorer at all three levels makes him dangerous, as he showed while competing with distinction against the United States National Team this summer, and his defensive tenacity could make him deadly to opposing teams.

Joining Flagg in the freshman class is top-10 recruit Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-2 center from South Sudan who is a highly anticipated projected top-10 pick in the 2025 NBA draft. Fellow top-25 signees Kon Knueppel and Isaiah Evans are expected to give Duke high-quality depth on the wings.

A pair of top-50 prospects from St. Paul VI High School in Virginia, Patrick Ngongba II and Darren Harris, round out the incoming class. Duke recently announced that Harris underwent surgery on his fractured left (non-shooting) hand, but is expected to make a full recovery before the 2024-25 season begins.

What makes this Duke team so intriguing, however, is not merely its top-ranked recruiting class. Not to sell the freshman short, but having a top-ranked class has become commonplace at Duke.

Instead, the unprecedented fixture of this Duke team is its extensive utilization of the transfer portal. Scheyer brought in four transfers, three of whom will likely play big roles for Duke. (Rice graduate Cameron Sheffield is expected to fill a complementary bench role.) Despite its large freshman class, this will be one of the Blue Devils’ oldest teams of the one-and-done era.

Scheyer’s portal search started with a familiar ACC foe, Maliq Brown, a 6-foot-9 rising junior forward from Syracuse who scored 26 points against the Blue Devils this past season. Brown, who led the ACC in steals per game (2.2) last season, will look to help anchor an otherwise inexperienced Duke frontcourt alongside Flagg and Maluach.

Duke also added two meaningful graduate transfers in Purdue forward Mason Gillis and Tulane guard Sion James.

Gillis was the Big Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year last year for the national runner-up Boilermakers. His three-point shooting (46.8 percent last year) and physical defense should be valuable assets for Duke.

James elected to withdraw his name from the NBA draft in favor of playing out his final collegiate year with the Blue Devils. His muscular frame and high-flying ability will make him tough to defend. However, it’s his defense that links him to his fellow incoming transfers in Durham.

Brown, Gillis and James add experience and defensive tenacity to a Duke team that already boasts a lot of talent. That may especially be the case on the defensive end, where there are additional standouts such as Flagg, Maluach and Proctor, who flexed his defensive muscle with a handful of disruptions in the waning moments of Duke’s Sweet 16 win over #1 seed Houston.

2024-25 Returning Scholarship Players
(Statistics From 2023-24 Unless Otherwise Specified)

PG Tyrese Proctor*, Jr. (6-6/183) — 2-year starter
30 mpg, 11 ppg, 3 rpg, 42% FG, 76% FT, 35% threes, 118/40 ATO, 3 blocks, 22 steals

G Caleb Foster, So. (6-5/202) — missed 2024 postseason with injury
25 mpg, 8 ppg, 2 rpg, 44% FG, 69% FT, 41% threes, 58/29 ATO, 2 blocks, 16 steals

*-returning starter (started at least 50% of current team’s games last season)

2024 Offseason Additions

F Cooper Flagg, Fr. (6-9/205) — #1 overall player in Class of 2024
Newport, Maine; Montverde Academy; McDonald’s A-A; Gatorade National POY

C Khaman Maluach, Fr. (7-2/250) — Top 10 in Class of 2024
Rumbek, South Sudan; NBA Academy Africa; 2024 Olympian (South Sudan)

G Sion James, Gr. (6-6/220) — Tulane transfer (4-year starter)
37 mpg, 14 ppg, 5 rpg, 51% FG, 68% FT, 38% threes, 84/37 ATO, 23 blocks, 50 steals

F Maliq Brown, Jr. (6-9/222) — Syracuse transfer, ACC All-Defense
30 mpg, 10 ppg, 3 rpg, 70% FG, 72% FT, 37% threes, 59/41 ATO, 29 blocks, 71 steals

F Mason Gillis, Gr. (6-6/225) — Purdue transfer, Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year
21 mpg, 7 ppg, 4 rpg, 48% FG, 86% FT, 47% threes, 66/32 ATO, 1 block, 9 steals

G/F Kon Knueppel, Fr. (6-7/217) — Top 25 in Class of 2024
Milwaukee, Wis.; Wisconsin Lutheran; Wisconsin Mr. Basketball

G/F Isaiah Evans, Fr. (6-6/175) — Top 25 in Class of 2024
Huntersville, N.C.; North Mecklenburg; McDonald’s A-A; NC Mr. Basketball

G/F Darren Harris, Fr. (6-6/203) — Top 50 in Class of 2024
Fairfax, Va.; St. Paul VI; 2023 Peach Jam MVP

C Patrick Ngongba II, Fr. (6-11/250) — Top 50 in Class of 2024
Fairfax, Va.; St. Paul VI; representing USA on U18 Men’s AmeriCup team

G/F Cameron Sheffield, Sr. (6-6/204) — Rice transfer, injured 2023-24
31 mpg, 8 ppg, 6 rpg, 43% FG, 77% FT, 37% threes, 44/50 ATO in 2022-23

2024 Offseason Departures

C Kyle Filipowski*, So. (7-0/248) — early NBA draft (second round/Jazz)
30 mpg, 16 ppg, 8 rpg, 51% FG, 67% FT, 35% threes, 100/76 ATO, 54 blocks, 41 steal

G Jared McCain*, Fr. (6-3/197) — early NBA draft (first round/76ers)
32 mpg, 14 ppg, 5 rpg, 46% FG, 89% FT, 41% threes, 68/47 ATO, 2 blocks, 38 steals

G Jeremy Roach*, Sr. (6-2/180) — transferred to Baylor (4-year starter)
33 mpg, 14 ppg, 3 rpg, 47% FG, 84% FT, 43% threes, 114/49 ATO, 5 blocks, 39 steals

F Mark Mitchell*, So. (6-9/232) — transferred to Missouri (2-year starter)
29 mpg, 12 ppg, 6 rpg, 54% FG, 62% FT, 28% threes, 36/28 ATO, 24 blocks, 26 steals

C Ryan Young, Gr. (6-10/238) — graduated
12 mpg, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 58% FG, 63% FT, 30/29 ATO, 17 blocks, 10 steals

G Jaylen Blakes, Jr. (6-2/204) — transferred to Stanford
9 mpg, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, 40% FG, 94% FT, 26% threes, 13/8 ATO, 5 blocks, 21 steals

F Sean Stewart, Fr. (6-9/227) — transferred to Ohio State
8 mpg, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 57% FG, 54% FT, 7/13 ATO, 16 blocks, 17 steals

F TJ Power, Fr. (6-9/216) — transferred to Virginia
7 mpg, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, 33% FG, 86% FT, 36% threes, 5/4 ATO, 3 blocks, 5 steals

C Christian Reeves, So. (7-1/245) — transferred to Clemson
Medical redshirt in 2023-24; former 3-star recruit

G Jaden Schutt, So. (6-5/190) — transferred to Virginia Tech
Medical redshirt in 2023-24; former 4-star recruit