Tag: Duke Blue Devils

WATCH: Duke softball’s wild 12th-inning walkoff over Virginia after fielding error

Duke outlasted Virginia in a 12-inning defensive battle, scoring the game’s only run after a bizarre defensive sequence from the Cavaliers.

There’s more than one way to win a softball game.

The No. 3 Blue Devils improved to 38-4 on the season after their 11th straight conference victory on Friday night, but the 1-0 win over Virginia looked a little different than most.

After a scoreless regulation, Duke and the Cavaliers needed nearly a complete second game of sudden death before a run crossed the plate.

However, in the bottom of the 12th, with runners on first and second and just one out on the board, Duke’s Jada Baker strode to the plate. Baker laid down a perfect bunt down the first-base line, forcing UVA pitcher Madison Harris to try and throw Baker out at first.

The throw got away from Harris, however, and second baseman Bella Cabral slipped trying to haul it in. The error let Duke senior Francesca Frelick make it all the way around to home for the game’s winning (and only) run.

Duke’s second game of the series starts on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Duke on the shortlist for BYU transfer Dallin Hall, per report

According to a Friday report from 247Sports analyst Travis Branham, Duke is firmly in contention for former BYU guard Dallin Hall.

Head coach Jon Scheyer got Crystal Ball predictions for former Purdue guard Mason Gillis and former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown on Friday, but the Blue Devils don’t appear to be done yet.

According to 247Sports national basketball analyst Travis Branham, Duke is on the shortlist for BYU transfer Dallin Hall.

Hall averaged 9.0 points and 5.1 assists for the Cougars last year, and he tacked on 3.5 rebounds per game despite being just 6-foot-4. The sophomore is a career 36% 3-point shooter, and he shot 42.2% from the floor last season.

Branham says Duke is in contention for Hall alongside Virginia, Creighton, Clemson, Cincinnati, Florida, Washington, Utah, and Utah State. Hall’s former coach, Mark Pope, took over Kentucky to replace John Calipari, but the Wildcats don’t appear to be in consideration.

https://x.com/TravisBranham_/status/1781466751215026472

Hall would help replenish a Duke backcourt losing Jeremy Roach to the transfer portal and Jared McCain to the NBA. Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor, the latter of whom led the team in assists last year, both return for the 2024-25 season.

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.

Duke gets three Crystal Ball predictions for Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown

Three different 247Sports experts shared Crystal Ball predictions for Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown on Friday, and they all picked Duke.

The Blue Devils lost a lot of names to the transfer portal this offseason, but head coach Jon Scheyer might replace them sooner rather than later.

Former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown got three Crystal Ball predictions for the Blue Devils from three different 247Sports analysts, including one from national analyst Travis Branham.

All three Crystal Ball predictions came between 3:53 p.m. and 4:31 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

Brown, who stands 6-foot-8, averaged 9.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the Orange last season. He recorded a double-double in each of his last three games with Syracuse, including 11 points and 12 rebounds against NC State in the ACC Tournament.

He also scored 26 points, the most he tallied in any game this season, against Scheyer and the Blue Devils in January.

The former Orange forward is 18th on EvanMiya’s transfer portal rankings.

The predictions come after Brown took a three-day visit with the Blue Devils from Wednesday through Friday.

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.

New Big 12 team emerges as the favorite for Jeremy Roach, per report

Jeremy Roach, a four-year starter for the Blue Devils, entered the transfer portal with one year of eligibility left, and he may be headed to the Big 12.

Duke senior captain Jeremy Roach declared for the NBA draft earlier this week, but he also entered the transfer portal and maintained his college eligibility. With one year left thanks to the COVID-19 extension, is the four-year Blue Devil headed to the Big 12?

According to The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, a longtime college basketball reporter, the Baylor Bears might be the team to watch for Roach’s next home.

Roach averaged a career-high 14.0 points per game last season after shooting 42.9% from 3-point range, another personal best. He also set new career records for assists (3.3), steals (1.1), and free-throw percentage (84.4%).

The four-year starter helped Duke defeat the Bears in December, a 78-70 win at Madison Square Garden a few days before Christmas. Roach scored 18 points after he made five of his nine attempts and seven of his eight free throws.

Baylor, a top-10 team when the Blue Devils took them down in December, finished with a 22-9 record in the regular season. As a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Bears defeated Colgate in the opening round before losing to Elite Eight-bound Clemson.

Duke forward TJ Power enters transfer portal

Duke forward TJ Power is the latest Blue Devil to enter the transfer portal after he announced his decision on Thursday afternoon.

Duke forward TJ Power is the latest Blue Devil to enter the transfer portal after he announced his decision through social media on Thursday afternoon.

Power played 26 games in his freshman season for Duke. He averaged 2.1 points and 0.7 rebounds per game in a limited bench role for the Blue Devils.

He shot 33.3% overall and 35.7% from beyond the arc. Power scored a season-high nine points against La Salle early in the season on Nov. 21.

“Duke will always have a place in my heart, but it’s time to do what is best for me, and with that being said, I will be entering my name into the transfer portal,” Power wrote in a statement he posted on Twitter.

Power is a former five-star recruit and was a top-25 player in his recruiting class. He is the third member of Duke’s frontcourt to enter the portal, joining Mark Mitchell and Christian Reeves.

Duke finalizing agreement to take on Kansas in Las Vegas for neutral site game, per Jon Rothstein

Duke and Kansas are finalizing an agreement for a non-conference matchup in November.

Duke’s already challenging non-conference schedule for 2024 is about to get even more difficult.

Jon Scheyer and his soon-to-be-revamped Blue Devils team will take on another college basketball blue blood in Kansas this November.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, one of college basketball’s biggest insiders, confirmed that the two legendary programs are in the process of finalizing a November matchup in Las Vegas.

No official announcement is imminent, and a date and time have yet to be decided upon, but things are in motion behind the scenes.

The last time these two titans faced off was in the Champions Classic in 2022, Jon Scheyer’s first season as Duke’s head coach following the departure of Coach K. Kansas went on to win that game 69-64 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The Jayhawks finished the game on a 15-5 run over the final 4:37. In total, Duke is 8-6 all-time against the Jayhawks.

Bill Self will bring a revamped roster as he looks to improve upon a less-than-stellar season by Kansas standards. The Jayhawks made the Sweet 16, but they were often injured and didn’t have the depth necessary to compete.

The Jayhawks have been aggressive and active in the transfer portal, landing new names like AJ Storr, Zeke Mayo, and Michael Ajayi for their roster. They also are returning Hunter Dickinson and Dajuan Harris.

If the two schools reach a final agreement, Duke will play Arizona, Kentucky, and Kansas as part of its non-conference schedule in 2024.

The Athletic’s new seven-round mock draft features three Duke linemen

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler went through each and every pick of the upcoming NFL draft for his latest projections, and he had three Blue Devils come off the board.

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler went through each and every pick in the draft for his newest seven-round mock on Wednesday, and he fit three former Blue Devils into his projections.

First up, offensive lineman Graham Barton. The presumed first-round pick is expected to shift inside as a guard at the next level, and Brugler thinks he’ll do so in Pittsburgh.

Since Barton played both outside and inside in college (three years at tackle and one year at center), The Athletic writer thinks Pittsburgh will value his flexibility as the Steelers try to rebuild their offensive line.

“Barton offers the five-position versatility that would allow Pittsburgh to get its best five on the field,” Brugler wrote.

Duke defensive lineman DeWayne Carter, a presumed fourth-round pick, came off the board next. Brugler slotted in the All-ACC defensive tackle to Minnesota with the 108th pick, the eighth name off the board in the fourth round.

Last but not least, Barton’s former companion along the offensive line got his moment in the sixth round. Brugler projected that center Jacob Monk would go to the Denver Broncos with the 203rd overall pick in the middle of the sixth round.

Graham Barton nearly inside the top 10 on one expert’s NFL draft big board

Interior offensive linemen don’t typically make it too high on an expert’s big board, but Nate Tice seems very impressed by Duke’s Graham Barton.

If you look near the top of most NFL draft big boards, you won’t find many interior offensive linemen. After all, the rankings are usually adjusted for positional value, and despite the importance of the trenches, a great quarterback or wide receiver can change a franchise overnight.

Let that sentiment reinforce how impressed Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice is with Duke prospect Graham Barton.

In his recent big board published last week, Tice had Barton as the 12th overall player in the draft class.

Even in a stacked offensive line class (15 prospects in Tice’s top 50), Barton stood out. He finished as the sixth-highest lineman in the rankings.

Barton played both tackle and center with the Blue Devils, but he’s expected to start out as a guard with whichever team calls his name during next week’s draft. Tice thinks he could play wherever a team needs him, even moving back to tackle if a team really needs him.

“Barton wins with quickness and hand placement that gives him a chance against better athletes, with enough bend and strength to hold up against more powerful rushers,” Tice wrote.

The former Wisconsin quarterback said he wasn’t sure how Barton could hold his own against the game’s elite pass rushers, but he thinks the former Blue Devil has a high floor.