Former Harvard forward Kale Catchings transfers to Duke men's basketball

After a week full of departures from its roster, Duke has made a new addition.

Former Harvard forward Kale Catchings has committed to the Blue Devils, On3's Joe Tipton reported Tuesday afternoon via Twitter. Catchings joins new head coach Jon Scheyer's first roster as a graduate transfer and should bolster a frontcourt led by incoming five-star freshmen Dereck Lively II and Kyle Filipowski in his lone season in Durham after averaging 9.1 points and 4.0 rebounds in 2021-22.

At Harvard, Catchings—the nephew of former WNBA star, college teammate of Duke women's basketball head coach Kara Lawson and Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings—played under former Blue Devil player and assistant coach Tommy Amaker, who has now manned the sidelines as head coach of the Crimson for 16 seasons. The 6-foot-6 O'Fallon, Mo., native marks the first transfer addition for Scheyer as head coach of the Blue Devils, and adds to the top-ranked 2022 recruiting class.

This past season served as a breakout for Catchings, whose best statistical campaign prior to his senior year had come as a freshman back in 2018-19 when he posted 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. After the Ivy League canceled its season in 2020-21 due to COVID-19, Catchings became an instant contributor for Harvard upon the team's return to play, starting in all 24 of his appearances as a senior before hitting the transfer portal Feb. 23.

Catchings joins the Blue Devils after five players declared for the NBA Draft and one more, junior guard Michael Savarino, entered the transfer portal within the span of a week. All those departures combine to make Catchings' addition both timely and valuable as he becomes one of the final pieces of Duke's 2022-23 roster to fall into place.