No. 2 Duke Blue Devils: Projected Rotation & Season Outlook
Another year, another absolutely loaded recruiting class for coach Jon Scheyer. He added three top-30 freshmen, led by Cameron Williams, who should effectively replace Cameron Boozer at the power forward spot, alongside Patrick Ngongba who returns for his junior season.
Deron Rippey Jr. and Bryson Howard should both factor in the rotation as well, with the upside to potentially earn starting spots down the road. Duke will also bring in who many consider the top international prospect in Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje. He's a 7-footer who will give Duke even more depth on the interior and is just 17 years old.
The Blue Devils were also able to land one of the top players in the transfer portal in John Blackwell out of Wisconsin. Blackwell is a dynamic scoring guard who will be Scheyer's No. 1 option on offense from Day 1. Caleb Foster and Cayden Boozer will both return to give Duke a lot of ball-handling options. Dame Sarr is likely to be the top option at small forward. He was the top international prospect last year and had a solid freshman campaign, starting 30 games. Expect him to see a big leap in production with Isaiah Evans out of the mix.
Overall, this Duke team once again arguably has the most pure talent of any team in the country. Coach Scheyer has fallen short in the NCAA Semifinals each of the last two seasons. Given the amount of talent Duke has amassed over the last decade, zero titles since 2015 is pretty inexcusable. It's time for Scheyer to change that and prove he can out coach some of the best in the sport in the biggest games.
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2026-27 Duke Basketball Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Caleb Foster (8.3 PPG)
SG: John Blackwell (19.1 PPG, 2.8 3PM at Wisconsin)
SF: Dame Sarr (6.4 PPG)
PF: Cameron Williams (No. 4 in SC Next 100)
C: Patrick Ngongba (10.5 PPG)
Key Reserves: Cayden Boozer (7.7 PPG), Drew Scharnowski (10.7 PPG, 6.0 RPG at Belmont), Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje (International Freshman), Deron Rippey Jr. (No. 16 in SC Next 100), Bryson Howard (No. 27 in SC Next 100), Jacob Theodosiou (13.1 PPG at Loyola-MD)
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