The NBA draft and college basketball transfer portal have eaten up most of what Duke brought to the table in the Elite Eight just three weeks ago, leaving only three players on the Blue Devils’ roster.
Center Kyle Filipowski and guard Jared McCain were each expected to leave for the NBA, but guard Jeremy Roach’s decision to declare for the draft was a surprise.
While he declared, he still retained college eligibility, so if he does not get good NBA feedback, Roach will continue in college, likely for a different program.
He was one of the final remaining players with Duke who played under former head coach Mike Krzyzewski during his final season during the 2021-22 Final Four run.
As of Friday, head coach Jon Scheyer lost his seventh player to the transfer portal, freshman Sean Stewart, who joins Roach, TJ Power, Mark Mitchell, Jaylen Blakes, Christian Reeves and Jaden Schutt.
Stewart, Power, Roach and Mitchell were all five-star recruits while Reeves and Schutt were four-star additions.
The remaining players include junior guard Tyrese Proctor and sophomore guard Caleb Foster, who both confirmed they’re staying, while senior walk-on Stanley Borden still has eligibility remaining.
Stewart and Power, as a freshmen, averaged 8.3 and seven minutes per game, respectively, and still have plenty of time to develop under Scheyer, who put together the No. 1 recruiting class in the country that’s led by Cooper Flagg.
Scheyer will be able to rebuild his roster rather quickly, but the loss of veteran players won’t be an easy problem to solve.
Flagg is joined by three other five-star recruits, and Duke is also expected to be shopping in the transfer portal, looking at Maliq Brown (Syracuse), Brandon Angel (Stanford) and Mason Gillis (Purdue), according to ESPN.
This upcoming season, the Blue Devils may be seeing a lot of growing pains with a young group, which will add much pressure to Scheyer’s plate, as the program hasn’t reached the Final Four in both his 27-9 seasons.
