Jon Scheyer is a great coach but he's an even better recruiter, equipped with decades of Duke prestige and a seemingly limitless NIL pool. No program is a bigger draw for top high school recruits; the Blue Devils were also plenty involved in the transfer portal this summer.
Duke is the preseason No. 2 team in college basketball and the presumptive favorites to win it all. College basketball is inherently unpredictable, though. This is not Scheyer's first time with a preseason top-five team, but he remains ringless in his tenure as head coach. Duke will attempt to break through that glass wall in 2026-27. Here's how their loaded roster shapes up.
Duke projected starting lineup and rotation
PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Caleb Foster | John Blackwell | Dame Sarr | Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje | Patrick Ngongba II |
Cayden Boozer | Deron Rippey Jr. | Bryson Howard | Cameron Williams | Drew Scharnowski |
(Starters are bold and italicized*)
Duke torched Tennessee in an exhibition match this week, 103-64. There's only so much to learn from a meaningless game, but it's hard to ignore the thorough demolition of a consensus top-20 team. The talent on this Duke squad is unmatched; not only did Scheyer land the best transfer guard in the country in John Blackwell, but he added several capable freshmen in an otherwise weak incoming class.
Duke isn't without quality returners either. Cayden Boozer was electric in the NCAA Tournament, when he finally gained the confidence to create his own shot. Caleb Foster, himself a former five-star recruit, is now coming into his senior year as a beloved clubhouse leader and a productive lead guard besides. Patrick Ngongba is one if the best centers in the country. He finished sixth in BPM among centers last season; Arizona's Motiejus Krivas is the only returning player above him.
Duke's star-studded backcourt presents good problems
You can never have too much of a good thing in basketball. Depth is ever so valuable, especially in college. Duke is protected against injuries in the backcourt and has multiple different looks it can go to, including potential three-guard lineups, depending on the matchup. That's valuable all season, but especially once the NCAA Tournament comes around.
That said, Scheyer will also need to navigate egos and what is "best" for the team. Caleb Foster, once healthy, is expected to start next to John Blackwell in the backcourt. That gives Duke two talented, jitterbug scorers, but neither is a super proficient creator for others and both can appear overmatched in certain situations on defense.
Cayden Boozer is only a sophomore, so he lacks the literal seniority of Foster. And yet he provides more size and physicality on the defensive end, while his high-I.Q., selfless approach to offense can elevate those around him. There's a strong case for Boozer as the more additive starting point guard next to Blackwell, especially when there's so much shot-making prowess scattered throughout the frontcourt.
Freshman Deron Rippey Jr., however, is the ultimate wild card. He scored 21 points in 21 minutes against Tennesse, on 9-of-12 shooting (3-of-6 from deep). Rippey fits the mold of a microwave bench scorer; he's undersized and explosive, with a knack for difficult shots at all three levels. He is also a hyper-competitive defender and a smart, savvy point guard when called upon. There's a world in which Rippey is so undeniable that Scheyer feels obligated to start him. How he navigates such a change could determine the course of Duke's season.
Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje is the ultimate trump card
Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje is not exactly a secret. The uber-talented French forward, still seven months away from his 18th birthday, is widely considered the best youth basketball prospect in the world — and a potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2028 NBA Draft. He will spend two years minimum at Duke before becoming draft eligible, following in the footsteps of former Arizona State and Kentucky five man Jayden Quaintance.
It's easy enough to write off Boumtje-Boumtje as a 17-year-old kid in a (young) man's league. He will need to contend with more athleticism and physicality than he has ever faced before. And yet, it's hard not to feel like Boumtje-Boumtje can achieve fast stardom — the next ace in a stacked deck that includes the likes of Cooper Flagg, Cameron Boozer and other ascendent NBA stars.
Boumtje-Boumtje can do a little bit of everything. At 7-foot-2, 250 pounds, he's a smooth lefty shooter with excellent feel and court vision. He can run two-man actions on the perimeter and distribute from the elbow. He can grab and go off of rebounds, with fluid, functional handles in the open court. He does need to add muscle and play with more brute force, but the sheer size and skill package is tantalizing. It also presents Scheyer with a ton of optionality when it comes to scheming up successful offense.
Duke's wing rotation is its weakest point
In all honesty, there is not a "weak point" on this Duke roster. Even while discussing potential issues on the wing, I will acknowledge that Bryson Howard and Dame Sarr are potential NBA first-round picks, while second-year Sebastian Wilkins has performed well in preseason.
That said, Duke's roster is a bit polarized between a stacked guard room and a stacked frontcourt. That's fine, as there are endless paths to successful team-building in college basketball, but it will be fascinating to see if the Blue Devils' wings can successfully provide glue on the margins.
Dame Sarr made a name for himself on the defensive end as a freshman, but he's extremely limited as a scorer. The jumper runs cold more often than hot; his free throw shooting is a negative indicator of growth in that department. Moreover, Sarr has a negative assist-to-turnover ratio, unable to really control the ball in tight spaces or maximize his athleticism attacking downhill.
Bryson Howard is a freshman with tremendous length and a malleable two-way skill set, but he's only a freshman at the end of the day. He needs to refine his decision-making and it feels notable that he has generated the least buzz of Duke's rotation-caliber newcomers. Sebastian Wilkins, who did not play as a freshman, is a similarly well-rounded player on paper. He has looked a bit better than Howard in scant preseason action, but it's unclear if he can hold down a major role.
If Sarr turns out to be the only dependable wing on the roster, and he's going to compress spacing and present certain challenges on offense. Duke needs one of its younger small forward types to pop off, at least in an ideal world. This team will be dominant regardless, but no team is flawless.
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