Tag: 2024-25 Season

Duke wide receiver Mehki Wall enters the transfer portal

Duke wide receiver Mekhi Wall, a former three-star prospect from the Class of 2022, entered the transfer portal on Wednesday.

Duke wide receiver Mehki Wall entered the transfer portal on Wednesday, as first reported by 247Sports’ Adam Rowe.

Wall, a three-star prospect from the Class of 2022, was the second Blue Devil to enter the portal on Wednesday. Redshirt freshman Ethan Hubbard threw his name to the market earlier that day.

Last season, as a redshirt freshman, Wall hauled in six passes for 38 yards. He caught his first collegiate touchdown against Virginia on November 18, when he recorded five of his six career catches for 36 yards.

Even without Wall, the Blue Devils had 13 other receivers on their 2024 spring football roster. Star wideout Jordan Moore caught a long touchdown from new quarterback Maalik Murphy during Saturday’s spring game, and graduate student Eli Pancol hauled in a one-handed catch during spring practice.

Whether he addresses the receiver position or not, first-year head coach Manny Diaz said that the Blue Devils would pick up more players in the transfer portal before the season begins.

New Duke guard Mason Gillis almost exclusively shoots 3-pointers

Across the last two seasons, Duke transfer Mason Gillis took 320 shots for the Purdue Boilermakers. 228 of those were 3-pointers.

New Duke guard Mason Gillis knows what he’s best at, and he isn’t afraid to revolve his game around it.

Gillis, a former Purdue Boilermaker who committed to the Blue Devils on Monday, spent four seasons in West Lafayette. Across his junior and senior campaigns, the 6-foot-6 sharpshooter took 320 total shots.

228 of those attempts came from behind the 3-point line. That’s a whopping 71.3% of Gillis’s attempts over the past two years.

Gillis isn’t just a volume shooter, either. He made a personal-best 46.8% of his triples last season, and he’s a career 40.7% 3-point shooter.

The tendency shows up in his shot chart, too. The Athletic’s Brendan Marks posted a picture of Gillis’s heat map, pointing out that he was KenPom’s No. 4 shooter among high-major teams.

Gillis’s volume and efficiency will be welcomed on a team losing Jared McCain, the presumed first-round pick who converted on 41.4% of his 3-point shots as a freshman.

Former Purdue guard Mason Gillis gets a pair of Crystal Ball predictions for the Blue Devils

Purdue sharpshooter Mason Gillis, who connected on 46.8% of his 3-point attempts last season, could be on the way to help shore up Duke’s backcourt.

Two 247Sports experts shared Crystal Ball predictions on Friday afternoon that former Purdue guard Mason Gillis would eventually commit to Duke.

National basketball analyst Travis Branham and The Devils Den’s John Watson shared their predictions within a half-hour of each other on Friday. Blue Devils fans started to get excited about the potential commitment on Tuesday when someone discovered that Gillis and Duke followed each other on Instagram.

Gillis is 17th on EvanMiya’s transfer portal rankings. He averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds for the Boilermakers last season, but his biggest point of emphasis comes from his 46.8% 3-point shooting.

The former Purdue guard would shore up a backcourt that lost starters Jeremy Roach and Jared McCain since the end of the season, as well as depth pieces like Jaylen Blakes and Jaden Schutt.

The Gillis predictions came minutes after Branham and two other 247Sports analysts predicted that former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown would also choose the Blue Devils.

The Athletic reporter shares lengthy social media thread defending Duke’s transfer portal turnover

While some Duke fans voiced issues with the amount of roster turnover for the 2024-25 season, The Athletic’s Brendan Marks voiced his thoughts on Jon Scheyer’s team-building.

The volume of players in the transfer portal can often set off red flags for college sports fans, indicating either locker room problems or a culture issue.

However, despite having seven players leaving for other programs this offseason, the Blue Devils men’s basketball team is in a unique position. Head coach Jon Scheyer is welcoming six top recruits in this coming freshman class, including consensus No. 1 prospect Cooper Flagg and projected lottery pick Khaman Maluach.

The mass exodus has still incited some ire and panic from Duke fans, however, and The Athletic’s Brendan Marks released a lengthy thread addressing his take on the situation.

While fans in his mentions said they wanted to see players stay in place and grow over the course of a few years, Marks said he doesn’t think that’s the reality of college basketball anymore.

“That isn’t a uniquely Duke issue,” Marks wrote. “Every fan base in CBB has the same complaint. Lower-level programs hate seeing their guys up-transfer.”

“It’s unfortunate, but ‘lifers’ don’t really exist anymore,” he added in a following post.

Marks added that UNC fans had similar issues with the transfers of Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan this season, and it resulted in an ACC regular-season title.

The reporter concluded that the five open spots on Duke’s roster will allow Scheyer to build a team specifically around Flagg, and that year-to-year turnover matters less than what product the second-year head coach provides from it.

The Athletic weighs the odds of Jeremy Roach, TJ Power, and Sean Stewart entering the transfer portal

The Athletic’s Brendan Marks released a 2024-25 Duke roster breakdown on Tuesday, and he predicted at least two more Blue Devils will leave for a new school.

The Athletic’s Brendan Marks released a lengthy breakdown of Duke’s 2024-25 season on Tuesday morning, and he shared some predictions for whether some familiar faces would return to Durham next season.

Marks believes four-year starter Jeremy Roach will finish his collegiate career somewhere else. The Athletic writer also expects either TJ Power or Sean Stewart, two freshmen with consistent bench minutes this season to leave the program for a new home.

Roach, the last player who started for legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski still with the program, has an additional year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 extension. He started in the Final Four two years ago and in the Elite Eight this season, but with Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor already confirmed to return, Marks thinks the veteran tests the market.

“(He) would be a hot commodity in the transfer portal,” Marks wrote. “His earning potential, depending on his next school, should be greater in college next season than somewhere overseas or in the G League.”

Marks emphasized that the Blue Devils have room for both Power and Stewart on a scholarship basis, especially if Roach doesn’t return, but said he expects at least one to depart.

“(Stewart) brings great athleticism and rebounding, and would be a valuable piece on most teams, but his fit next to Flagg and Maluach isn’t ideal,” Marks wrote. “Power would be the player I would prioritize between those two.”

None of the three have officially voiced their decision for next season, though with the end-of-season banquet in the rearview mirror, confirmations should be expected soon if they come.

Andy Katz puts Duke second in way-too-early power rankings for next season

Andy Katz released his way-too-early Power 36 rankings for the 2024-2025 season, and the Duke Blue Devils ranked No. 2 overall.

Andy Katz released his way-too-early Power 36 rankings for the 2024-2025 season, and the Duke Blue Devils ranked No. 2 overall.

Duke came in one spot behind the Houston Cougars, whom the Blue Devils defeated in the Sweet 16 this past NCAA Tournament.

Duke boasts the No. 1 recruiting class for next season. Cooper Flagg, the top-ranked player in the Class of 2024, will likely be the face of the Blue Devils next season. Duke’s recruiting class features three other five-star recruits alongside Flagg, including South Sudanese center Khaman Maluach and North Carolina Mr. Basketball Isaiah Evans.

Katz is one of the rare few with someone other than the Blue Devils atop his projected rankings. Duke came in first in the early 2024-25 rankings from USA TODAY Sports, The Athletic, and ESPN.

The team’s roster turnover is still ongoing. As of now, forward Mark Mitchell and center Christian Reeves have entered the transfer portal.

Guard Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski are both getting NBA Draft lottery projections but have yet to announce whether they’ll return to Duke for another season.

Duke opens as favorites to win 2025 men’s basketball national title, per Fanduel odds

The Blue Devils have the best chance to cut down the nets in 12 months, according to Fanduel’s newly released odds for 2025.

According to Fanduel Sportsbook, no one has a better chance to cut down the nets in 12 months than the Blue Devils.

The Duke men’s basketball team opened as the site’s favorite to win the 2024-25 national title. Head coach Jon Scheyer’s team opened at +1100 to win it all, bolstered by five-star recruits like Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach.

“The incoming freshmen should mesh well with Blue Devil holdovers Sean Stewart (57.1 FG%) and Caleb Foster (7.7 PPG),” Fanduel’s Gabriel Santiago wrote in an article about the opening odds. “In all, FanDuel Sportsbook is expecting Duke to make a serious run next season.”

[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″]

The Kansas Jayhawks have the second-lowest odds at +1200, followed by now two-time defending champion Connecticut at +1300. The Alabama Crimson Tide, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Houston Cougars are all +1500, the only other teams lower than +2000.

Team Odds
Duke Blue Devils +1100
Kansas Jayhawks +1200
UConn Huskies +1300
Alabama Crimson Tide +1500
North Carolina Tar Heels +1500
Houston Cougars +1500
Arizona Wildcats +2000
Gonzaga Bulldogs +2500
Baylor Bears +3000
Kentucky Wildcats +3000

[gambcom-standard rankid=”5″]

Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire

Duke sits atop USA TODAY Sports’ early 2024-25 men’s college basketball rankings

USA TODAY Sports released its early rankings for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season on Tuesday morning, and guess who sat atop the list?

The Blue Devils might be the consensus top team in men’s basketball next season.

USA TODAY Sports writers Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, and Eddie Timanus released their early projected rankings for the 2024-25 season on Monday morning, just hours after Connecticut cut down the nets for the second straight year. The trio had Duke at the very top of the list.

The Blue Devils made the Elite Eight this year, defeating No. 1 seed Houston on the way. Next year, head coach Jon Scheyer welcomes four five-star prospects and two more four-star freshmen into the building. Myerberg, Smith, and Timanus said the 2024 recruiting class makes the Blue Devils one of the youngest, deepest teams in the country.

“It will be on coach Jon Scheyer to push all the right buttons and find the best rotation for a team that looks on paper to be very capable of winning the national title,” they wrote.

It remains to be seen which players from this past season will return, with starters Kyle Filipowski, Jared McCain, Tyrese Proctor, and Mark Mitchell weighing the NBA or the transfer portal, but the USA TODAY Sports staff believes in the Blue Devils no matter who stays or goes.

Alabama, who made the Final Four this season, came in second in the site’s early rankings. Iowa State, Kansas, and the national champion Huskies followed to finish the top five in order.

Rival North Carolina came immediately after in sixth. Clemson (13th) was the only other ACC team on the list.

The Athletic has Duke first in too-early rankings for 2024-25 season

The Blue Devils and the No. 1 recruiting class in the country could run the men’s college basketball scene next season, according to The Athletic’s rankings.

The Athletic released its early top 25 for the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season on Monday evening, and the Blue Devils were first in the rankings.

The Blue Devils made the Elite Eight this season, and despite (probably) losing presumed first-round picks Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain to the NBA, they have the top overall recruiting class in the country. Cooper Flagg, the highest-ranked prospect in the country, will lead a freshman class with three other five-star prospects and two more four-star players.

The Athletic’s CJ Moore and Sam Vecenie, who put the rankings together, gave an expected starting five in the rankings, too. They had Jeremy Roach, Tyrese Proctor, and Caleb Foster coming back to start alongside Flagg and Khaman Maluach.

“This is the deepest team in college basketball as presently constructed at the time of recording,” the duo wrote. “This Duke team kind of has everything.”

Moore and Vecenie emphasized that the Blue Devils, in their projections, have a balance of freshmen and veteran leadership.

Gonzaga was second in the site’s rankings, with Houston, Iowa State, and Connecticut rounding out the top five. North Carolina came in ninth in the rankings, and Miami (18th) was the only other ACC team in the top 25.