If four Duke freshmen elect to leave school after one year, head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff might have to replace a total of seven players from this year's team.
The way they are offering players in the Class of 2017, it seems like they will be ready for that scenario come next spring.
The Blue Devils recently offered four-star shooting guard Alex O'Connell a scholarship, making him the fourth shooting guard they have offered and 14th player in the class overall.
Blessed to receive an offer from Duke University! #BlueDevils pic.twitter.com/n7s9fRGy10
— Alex O'Conne11 (@Alex_OC11) August 25, 2016
O'Connell's dad, David, played at Duke in the 1970s. According to ESPN, the younger O'Connell is the 88th-best player in the Class of 2017. The 6-foot-5 prospect is known as a good jump shooter, and if he eventually commits to the Blue Devils, he could help offset the losses of senior Matt Jones and Grayson Allen in 2017-18, assuming Allen turns pro after graduating in three years if he sticks to his current academic plan.
Analysts at 247sports think there is a good chance O'Connell will commit to Duke and also have the Blue Devils in good shape to land five-star point guard Quade Green, five-star shooting guard Gary Trent, Jr., five-star wing Kevin Knox and five-star big men Wendell Carter and Mohamed Bamba.
The Blue Devils are also expected to eventually land four-star center Deng Gak, though projections will likely change as players start committing in the coming months.
Check back in with the Blue Zone for all your Duke men's basketball recruiting news.
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