The Duke Blue Devils fell in the Elite Eight of this past season’s NCAA Tournament, the program’s best finish to date under head coach Jon Scheyer. This should leave the program in an optimistic spot heading into next season. But thanks to a ton of departures this offseason, things couldn’t be less optimistic.
Expectedly, the likes of Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain decided to declare for the upcoming 2024 NBA Draft. But the transfer portal has spelled even worse news for the program in recent weeks.
Jerem Roach, Mark Mitchell, TJ Power, Jaylen Blakes, Christian Reeves, and Jaden Schutt have all entered the transfer portal already this offseason. And that list got even longer on Friday, as former top-20 recruit Sean Stewart announced his intention to enter the portal as well on social media.
It’s an understandable decision for Stewart to leave the program after averaging just 8.4 minutes per game this past season. Still, it only adds to the holes that the program will need to fill before the start of next season.
As of right now, Duke only has two players, Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster, who are set to return from this past season’s roster.
That’s not exactly a recipe for success. But if any program is built to withstand these kinds of departures, it may just be a team like Duke who consistently produces one-and-done NBA talent.
Duke is set to bring in six high school recruits, including No. 1 overall recruit in the 2024 high school recruiting class Cooper Flagg. Some other five-stars in Duke’s incoming class are No. 12 ranked recruit Isaiah Evans and No. 17 ranked recruit Kon Knueppel.
Still, it will be a tough assignment for Jon Scheyer to coach up this current projected team, as they have very few respected veterans on their roster.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.