Between No. 1 overall prospect Cooper Flagg, five other top-50 freshmen, and a top-20 transfer class, there won’t be a shortage of star power in Durham next season.
However, just because guys like Flagg and five-star center Khaman Maluach seem like locks for the 2025 NBA draft lottery and transfers like Sion James and Mason Gillis have one year of eligibility left, head coach Jon Scheyer isn’t willing to dole out minutes out of obligation.
In a Tuesday article from The News & Observer’s Steve Wiseman, Scheyer said no player on the 2024-25 roster will get his spot handed to him.
“There wasn’t going to be promises or assurances for anybody in terms of guaranteed minutes or guaranteed starting,” Scheyer said in the story. “Our programs are built on competition. And we’re doubling down on that at a time where the environment makes you or puts you in a position to promise things.”
Entering his third season at the helm of the men’s basketball program, Scheyer has routinely praised his incoming class of players for their competitive nature. He talked up Flagg’s motor in an ACC Network segment earlier this month. It seems like every player on the Blue Devils knows the deal ahead of next season.