The whole country has been talking about head coach Jon Scheyer’s season three roster for months now. It’s finally time to see it in action.
As always, expectations for the Blue Devils scrape the sky — though this year, there is more hype than in recent memory. Duke retained two essential players from last year’s Elite Eight squad, holding onto backcourt talent in junior Tyrese Proctor and sophomore Caleb Foster, who has grown as a player and leader this summer after a season-ending injury.
The Cameron Crazies, however, have largely turned their attention to one of the best freshman recruiting classes Duke has ever pulled. The only rookie to be named preseason All-American, Cooper Flagg, looks to make a colossal impact on Duke in his freshman campaign. Though some fans want to tab him as “the next Zion Williamson,” Flagg’s talents are unique.
He’s far from the only rookie star on this team. In Duke’s Brotherhood Run exhibition game against Arizona State, Kon Knueppel led the score sheet with 19 points, while Khaman Maluach rose above the rim for 12 rebounds. The 7-foot-2 South Sudan native provides a true rim-protecting center for Duke, filling a gap that stifled the Blue Devils last year. Like Proctor, Maluach is a product of an NBA Academy, where he trained before Duke from the age of 14.
There are also two stars joining Duke from St. Paul VI, a high school in Chantilly, Va., right outside of Washington, D.C. The prep school sent both Darren Harris and Patrick Ngongba II to the Blue Devil Brotherhood, following in the footsteps of Jeremy Roach and Trevor Keels. Scheyer, who recruited as an assistant coach as well, seems to have mastered the Duke pitch, even in the transfer portal: Plenty of veterans fill this roster, balancing out hyper-talented young players with a bit more college experience.
In Duke’s Centennial year, there’s loads of history for the basketball program to reflect on. Journalist and former Chronicle sports editor John Feinstein, an old friend of Mike Krzyzewski, recounts his experience as a reporter during all five of the former head coach’s national championship runs in his latest book, “Five Banners: Inside the Duke Basketball Dynasty.” Meanwhile, Dr. Javier Wallace, a postdoctoral associate professor of African-American studies, explores the lesser-known history of Duke basketball in his undergraduate course at Duke about race and sports. Many of his students are Duke basketball players.
Our beat writers took a look at this year’s exciting schedule and offered their predictions for the season. If you have more catching up to do before the Blue Devils take to the floor in Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night, browse the Blue Zone’s player preview series. For a quick listen, check out the season preview of the Cameron Chronicles, out wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, make sure you’re following The Chronicle on Facebook, @thedukechronicle on Instagram and @DukeBasketball on X for timely updates all season long.
Here comes Duke.
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