2024-25 North Carolina Sports Network
Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball Spotlight:
Duke University
By Ben McCormick
North Carolina Sports Network
School: Duke University
Location: Durham, N.C.
Previous Conference Affiliations: Southern Conference (1928-53)
ACC Member Since: 1953-54
ACC Ranking Among 32 Leagues (KenPom): 5th (2025), 5th (2024), 7th (2023), 5th (2022), 5th (2021), 4th (2020)
NCAA Tournament Bids: 46 (1955, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024)
NCAA Championships: 5 (1991, 1992, 2002, 2010, 2015)
Final Fours: 17 (1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010, 2015, 2022)
Conference Titles: 27 (1938, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1946 in SoCon; 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2017, 2019, 2023 in ACC)
Conference 1st-Place Finishes: 23 (SoCon: 1940, 1942, 1943 in SoCon; 1954, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1979, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2022 in ACC)
Head Coach: Jon Scheyer (37, 3rd season)
As A Player: Duke (2006-10)
Record As Head Coach (through Nov. 25): 58-19 (.753) in 2+ seasons
Previous HC Experience: none
AC Experience: Duke (2014-22)
Assistant Under: Mike Krzyzewski
2023-24 Record: 27-9, 15-5 (2nd in 15-team ACC); NCAA Elite Eight
2024-25 Preseason Prediction (Media): 1st in 18-team ACC
2024-25 Record (Through Nov. 25): 4-1, 0-0 ACC
2024-25 Midseason Ranking (AP Poll/KenPom): #11/#4 nationally (1st/1st in ACC)
Upcoming Schedule: vs. #1 Kansas (11/26), Seattle (11/29), #4 Auburn (12/4), at Louisville (12/8), Incarnate Word (12/10), George Mason (12/17), at Georgia Tech (12/21), Virginia Tech (12/31)
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 from Stanford.
Shortly after Duke’s Elite Eight loss to NC State, it became apparent that the Blue Devils were in for a wildly different offseason this year. 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).
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 Kyle Filipowski and ACC All-Freshman selection 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 three returning scholarship players, and only two legitimate rotation returners: Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster. Even that pair faced some change, with Foster now spending more time at point guard and Proctor (who led the team with 118 assists last season) playing more on the wing.
Duke had its starting backcourt for 2024-25 locked up, but how did 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 an episode of 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 prospect in the Class of 2024, is the focal point of Duke’s 2024-25 squad. The projected top NBA pick’s diversity as a scorer at all three levels makes him dangerous, and his defensive tenacity could make him deadly to opposing teams.
In the opening week of the season, Flagg struggled with cramping issues — an issue Duke faced in 2021-22 with eventual #1 pick Paolo Banchero. The Blue Devils certainly will need to find a way to get that issue under wraps as their schedule ramps up. During Duke’s 4-1 start, Flagg averaged about 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks per game, leading the team in all five categories.
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 lottery pick in the 2025 draft. To start the season, Maluach has proven to be a reliable rim protector and a strong rebounder.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the offseason for the Blue Devils was the high-level play of top-25 signee Kon Knueppel. Not that Knueppel wasn’t already viewed as a great player, but the Milwaukee native has emerged as a candidate to lead Duke in scoring on occasion. The freshman wing is the Devils’ #2 scorer, at 14.4 points per game.
On episodes of “The Brotherhood Podcast,” a show hosted by Foster, nearly every member of the team attested that he had been most impressed by Knueppel’s play this summer.
“Bro don’t miss,” fellow five-star freshman Isaiah Evans said about Knueppel. “You just can’t leave him. If I’m guarding him, you’ve got no help. I can’t help you.”
Evans is another five-star newcomer who will give Duke depth on the wing. A pair of top-50 prospects from St. Paul VI High School, Patrick Ngongba II and Darren Harris, round out the freshman class. However, Ngongba has been rehabbing a foot injury, so he played in only one of the team’s first five games.
What makes this Duke team so intriguing, however, is not just its top-ranked recruiting class. Not to sell the freshmen short, but having a #1 class has become commonplace at Duke.
Instead, the unique fixture of this Duke team is its utilization of the portal. Scheyer brought in four transfers, three of whom will play big roles. (Rice graduate Cameron Sheffield will play a complementary bench role.) Despite its large freshman class, this will be one of Duke’s oldest teams of the one-and-done era.
Scheyer’s portal search started with a familiar ACC foe, Maliq Brown, a 6-foot-9 junior forward from Syracuse who scored 26 points against the Blue Devils last season. Brown, who led the ACC in steals per game (2.2) in 2023-24, will look to help anchor an otherwise inexperienced Duke frontcourt alongside Flagg and Maluach.
Two more meaningful graduate transfers for Duke are 6-foot-6 forward Mason Gillis from Purdue and 6-foot-6 swingman Sion James from Tulane.
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% last year) and physical defense will 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 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, especially on the defensive end with 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.
At the very least, this talented Duke team is likely to challenge for the ACC’s regular-season and/or tournament titles. With continued improvement, both from their young players and their rebuilt backcourt, the Blue Devils also will be a strong candidate for a long run in the NCAA Tournament.
2024-25 Duke Blue Devils
(4-1, 0-0 ACC; through Nov. 25)
STARTERS (stats = final 2023-24 numbers)
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
G Tyrese Proctor*, Jr., (6-6/183) — two-year starter
30 mpg, 11 ppg, 3 rpg, 42% FG, 76% FT, 35% threes, 118/40 ATO, 3 blocks, 22 steals
G/F Kon Knueppel, Fr., (6-7/217) — Top 25 in Class of 2024
Milwaukee, Wis.; Wisconsin Lutheran; Wisconsin Mr. Basketball
F Cooper Flagg, Fr., (6-9/205) — #1 overall player in Class of 2024
Newport, Maine; Montverde Academy; McDonald’s All-American; Gatorade NPOY
C Khaman Maluach, Fr., (7-2/250) — Top 10 in Class of 2024
Rumbek, South Sudan; NBA Academy Africa; represented South Sudan at Olympics
KEY RESERVES (stats = final 2023-24 numbers)
F Maliq Brown, Jr., (6-9/222) — Syracuse transfer (ACC All-Defense, steals leader)
30 mpg, 10 ppg, 3 rpg, 70% FG, 72% FT, 37% threes, 59/41 ATO, 29 blocks, 71 steals
G/F Sion James, Gr., (6-6/220) — Tulane transfer (four-year starter)
37 mpg, 14 ppg, 5 rpg, 51% FG, 68% FT, 38% threes, 84/37 ATO, 23 blocks, 50 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 Isaiah Evans, Fr., (6-6/175) — Top 25 in Class of 2024
Huntersville, N.C.; North Mecklenburg; McDonald’s All-American; N.C. 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
Departures from 2023-24: BF Neal Begovich (Sr.), PG Jaylen Blakes (Jr./transfer/Stanford), C Kyle Filipowski* (So./early NBA entry/Utah Jazz), WG Jared McCain* (Fr./early NBA entry/Philadelphia 76ers), BF Mark Mitchell* (So./transfer/Missouri), BF TJ Power (Fr./transfer/Virginia), C Christian Reeves (r-Fr./transfer/Clemson), WG Jeremy Roach* (Sr./transfer/Baylor), WG Jaden Schutt (r-Fr./transfer/Virginia Tech), BF Sean Stewart (Fr./transfer/Ohio State), C Ryan Young (Sr.)
*—2023-24 starter (started at least 50% of Duke’s games last season)
Duke Blue Devils
10-Year Snapshot
Season — Overall, League (Place), Postseason
2023-24: 27-9, 15-5 ACC (2nd), NCAA Elite Eight (Jon Scheyer)
2022-23: 27-9, 14-6 ACC* (3rd), NCAA Round of 32 (Jon Scheyer)
2021-22: 32-7, 16-4 ACC (1st), NCAA Final Four (Mike Krzyzewski)
2020-21: 13-11, 9-9 ACC (10th), no postseason (Mike Krzyzewski)
2019-20: 25-6, 15-5 ACC (2nd), COVID (Mike Krzyzewski)
2018-19: 32-6, 14-4 ACC* (3rd), NCAA Elite Eight (Mike Krzyzewski)
2017-18: 29-8, 13-5 ACC (2nd), NCAA Elite Eight (Mike Krzyzewski)
2016-17: 28-9, 11-7 ACC* (5th), NCAA Round of 32 (Mike Krzyzewski)
2015-16: 25-11, 11-7 ACC (5th), NCAA Sweet 16 (Mike Krzyzewski)
2014-15: 35-4, 15-3 ACC (2nd), NCAA CHAMPIONS (Mike Krzyzewski)
*—conference champion
NOTE: In the coming weeks and months, please visit the North Carolina Sports Network’s 2024-25 profiles and 10-year snapshots for all 19 Division One men’s basketball programs in North Carolina and all 18 Atlantic Coast Conference programs. The items below will become “live links” as new articles are posted.
Appalachian State Mountaineers, Sun Belt Conference
Boston College Eagles, Atlantic Coast Conference
California Bears, Atlantic Coast Conference
Campbell Camels, Coastal Athletic Association
Charlotte 49ers, American Athletic Conference
Clemson Tigers, Atlantic Coast Conference
Davidson Wildcats, Atlantic-10 Conference
East Carolina Pirates, American Athletic Conference
Elon Phoenix, Coastal Athletic Association
Florida State Seminoles, Atlantic Coast Conference
Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs, Big South Conference
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Atlantic Coast Conference
High Point Panthers, Big South Conference
Louisville Cardinals, Atlantic Coast Conference
Miami Hurricanes, Atlantic Coast Conference
North Carolina Tar Heels, Atlantic Coast Conference
North Carolina A&T Aggies, Coastal Athletic Association
North Carolina Central Eagles, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
North Carolina State Wolfpack, Atlantic Coast Conference
Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Atlantic Coast Conference
Pittsburgh Panthers, Atlantic Coast Conference
Queens Royals, Atlantic Sun Conference
SMU Mustangs, Atlantic Coast Conference
Stanford Cardinal, Atlantic Coast Conference
Syracuse Orange, Atlantic Coast Conference
UNC Asheville Bulldogs, Big South Conference
UNC Greensboro Spartans, Southern Conference
UNC Wilmington Seahawks, Coastal Athletic Association
Virginia Cavaliers, Atlantic Coast Conference
Virginia Tech Hokies, Atlantic Coast Conference
Wake Forest, Atlantic Coast Conference
Western Carolina Catamounts, Southern Conference
