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 CoachJon Scheyer (37 years old, 3rd season)

As A Player: Duke (2006-10)

Record As Head Coach (through Jan. 31): 72-20 (.783) 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 Jan. 31): 18-2, 10-0 ACC

2024-25 Midseason Ranking (AP Poll/KenPom): #2/#3 nationally (1st/1st in ACC)

Upcoming Schedule: UNC (2/1), at Syracuse (2/5), at Clemson (2/8), California (2/12), Stanford (2/15), at Virginia (2/17), vs. Illinois (2/22), at Miami (2/25), Florida State (3/1)

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 seemed to have its starting backcourt for 2024-25 locked up, 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 an episode of The Brotherhood Podcast. “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 makes 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 lottery pick in the 2025 draft. Maluach has proven to be a reliable rim protector and 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 about 13 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 last 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, and he gives 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.

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 are playing significant roles. (Rice graduate Cameron Sheffield plays a complementary bench role.) Despite its large freshman class, this is 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, now anchors an otherwise inexperienced Duke frontcourt, alongside Flagg and Maluach.

The other two 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 are 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 last year.

At the very least, this talented Duke team is the favorite for the ACC’s regular-season and 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
(18-2, 10-0 ACC; through Jan. 31)

STARTERS (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

Sion James, Gr. (6-6/220) — 2024 Tulane transfer (4-year starter)
23 mpg, 8 ppg, 5 rpg, 50% FG, 76% FT, 37% threes, 61/25 ATO, 8 blocks, 20 steals

Tyrese Proctor*, Jr. (6-6/183) — 2022 4-star HS signee (Australia)
29 mpg, 10 ppg, 4 rpg, 40% FG, 74% FT, 39% threes, 44/23 ATO, 3 blocks, 15 steals

G/F Kon Knueppel, Fr. (6-7/217) — 2024 5-star HS signee (Wisconsin Lutheran)
30 mpg, 13 ppg, 4 rpg, 43% FG, 87% FT, 37% threes, 52/25 ATO, 3 blocks, 14 steals

Cooper Flagg, Fr. (6-9/205) — #1 player in Class of 2024 (Montverde Academy)
32 mpg, 20 ppg, 8 rpg, 49% FG, 81% FT, 33% threes, 82/54 ATO, 24 blocks, 29 steals

Khaman Maluach, Fr. (7-2/250) — 2024 5-star HS signee (NBA Africa)
20 mpg, 8 ppg, 6 rpg, 76% FG, 77% FT, 14% threes, 6/14 ATO, 23 blocks, 4 steals

KEY RESERVES (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

Maliq Brown, Jr. (6-9/222) — 2024 Syracuse transfer (ACC All-Defense)
18 mpg, 3 ppg, 5 rpg, 64% FG, 37% FT, 17% threes, 22/18 ATO, 8 blocks, 22 steals

Caleb Foster, So. (6-5/202) — 2023 5-star HS signee (Notre Dame HS in Calif.)
17 mpg, 6 ppg, 2 rpg, 39% FG, 62% FT, 30% threes, 32/18 ATO, 2 blocks, 15 steals

Mason Gillis, Gr. (6-6/225) — 2024 Purdue transfer (Big Ten 6th Man of Year)
15 mpg, 5 ppg, 3 rpg, 46% FG, 83% FT, 35% threes, 17/10 ATO, 0 blocks, 8 steals

Isaiah Evans, Fr. (6-6/175) — 2024 5-star HS signee (North Mecklenburg HS)
12 mpg, 7 ppg, 1 rpg, 45% FG, 85% FT, 45% threes, 7/6 ATO, 0 blocks, 0 steals

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 (regular-season and/or tournament)

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 Golden Bears, Atlantic Coast Conference

Campbell Camels, Coastal Athletic Association

Charlotte 49ers, American Athletic Conference

Clemson Tigers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Davidson Wildcats, Atlantic-10 Conference

Duke Blue Devils, Atlantic Coast 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

Pitt 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