Respect the 509!
Cedric Coward — who began his college basketball career at DIII Willamette before transferring to Eastern Washington, then to Washington State, is headed to Duke to play for Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils.
One of the best remaining players in the transfer portal, Coward is 6-foot-6 and listed in some places as a guard, but is more of a scorer than a distributor, so I foresee him lining up on the wing for Duke next season.
Coward averaged 17 points and seven rebounds a game for Washington State last season, but he played only six games because of a shoulder injury. In his last full season at Eastern Washington, he posted 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game along with a steal and nearly a block per game.
Projected Duke starting lineup after adding Cedric Coward
Player | Position |
|---|---|
Caleb Foster | Point guard |
Cayden Boozer | Shooting guard |
Cedric Coward | Small forward |
Cameron Boozer | Power Forward |
Patrick Ngongba II | Center |
This is a complete shot in the dark for a few reasons. Firstly, some big names remain in the transfer portal who could slide into the starting lineup if Duke wins the NIL battle with other schools vying for their talents.
Secondly, I have no idea if both Boozer brothers will start for Duke next year; I'm very confident about Cameron being the starting 4 in Sheyer's lineup, but Cayden Boozer could start in a bench role behind Caleb Foster or Boozer could start, Foster could come off the bench and one of Isaiah Evans or Darren Harris could start if Scheyer wants more movement shooting to open up games.
And at center, I put Ngongba because he's the only true center on Duke's roster right now. Maliq Brown had some great moments last year, but doesn't protect the rim particularly well and is more likely slated for backup duties at power forward.
Duke hopes to replace production of Cooper Flagg, other departures
Of course, the 2024 Duke Blue Devils will be remembered as Cooper Flagg's team as he heads to the 2025 NBA Draft, but fellow freshmen Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach were both incredibly important to Duke's success. Replicating their production — scoring and facilitating from Knueppel, and rim protection from Maluach — will be vital in 2025-26, too.
If Kayden Boozer and Patrick Ngongba II can't replicate that production by themselves (and that's fine if they can't), it'll likely be more of a committee approach to replace last season's stars.