Duke Basketball in a Position to Completely Disregard Transfer Portal
Duke Basketball in a Position to Completely Disregard Transfer Portal
For the second consecutive year, Duke basketball is unlikely to need any incoming scholarship transfers. 
The Duke basketball coaching staff seems to be advocating for a strict merit-based approach to their roster. With the recent commitment from NBA Academy Africa’s highly-touted center Khaman Maluach, the Blue Devils now have secured six impressive recruits for the class of 2024. Furthermore, they currently have 11 scholarship players who still have eligibility beyond the current season.
That adds up to 17 players, but only 13 can receive scholarships each season.
While sophomore forward Kyle Filipowski is expected to be a lottery pick, there are several other contenders who might declare for the 2024 NBA Draft, including sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor, sophomore forward Mark Mitchell, and freshman guard Jared McCain.
Senior guard Jeremy Roach might choose not to utilize the additional year of eligibility that the NCAA granted to all players who participated in the shortened 2020-21 season.
In the meantime, without specifying individuals, it seems likely that a few current Blue Devils may pursue more playing opportunities elsewhere by entering the transfer portal shortly after the conclusion of this season.
However, unless there are unexpected changes in commitments, Jon Scheyer and his coaching staff, who were the only high-major team to neither gain nor lose scholarship talent through transfers last offseason, are poised to once again have the advantage of largely disregarding the transfer portal, while other programs heavily rely on it for roster building.
Duke basketball’s impressive 2024 recruiting class includes Maluach, ranked sixth overall on the 247Sports Composite, along with five-star forward Cooper Flagg, ranked first, five-star forward Isaiah Evans at 14th, five-star forward Kon Knueppel at 17th, five-star center Patrick Ngongba II at 24th, and four-star forward Darren Harris at 53rd.
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Regarding the current Blue Devils who still have eligibility, they include Roach, Filipowski, Proctor, Mitchell, McCain, junior guard Jaylen Blakes, sophomore guard Jaden Schutt, sophomore center Christian Reeves, freshman guard Caleb Foster, freshman forward Sean Stewart, and freshman forward TJ Power.
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