Tag: Duke men’s basketball

UPDATE: Dayton sharpshooter Koby Brea no longer visiting Duke

Dayton’s Koby Brea no longer plans to visit Duke next week.

After seeing more than nine players leave the program for the portal or professional opportunities since Duke’s season ended, head coach Jon Scheyer has been deliberate in the transfer portal.

However, it seems like Dayton shooter Koby Brea won’t be a part of those plans.

After a Friday report from national insider Jon Rothstein that Brea would visit the Blue Devils from Tuesday to Thursday of next week, The News & Observer’s Stephen Wiseman confirmed Brea would not take a trip to Durham.

Brea averaged 11.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game this past season while shooting an NCAA-best 49.8 percent beyond the arc for a Flyers group that posted a 25-8 record and reached the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 before ultimately falling to Arizona.

Duke does still have two transfers so far this offseason. Maliq Brown is officially a Blue Devil, and he adds defensive prowess and energy and is an elite finisher at the rim. Purdue transfer Mason Gillis, who also officially joined the program on Friday, is a sharpshooter who can guard multiple positions along the perimeter. He was the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and brings leadership, toughness, and range to hit big shots.

Duke finishes at No. 9 in final AP poll

Four ACC teams, including Duke, crack final AP poll of the 2023-2024 season.

While the season’s outcome was not what many expected when Duke took the floor to start the season, Jon Scheyer’s team was, in essence, just 12 minutes from a Final Four berth.

NC State made more plays down the stretch and ultimately ended Duke’s season before having their season ended by national runner-up Purdue. Connecticut was always the best team from beginning to end, and they proved it by doing what hadn’t been done since Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators teams in 2006–07: winning a second consecutive national title.

It should come as no surprise that the Huskies end the season as the No. 1 team in the final AP poll for the 2023-2024 season. Purdue was second, while Houston, whom Duke beat in the Sweet 16, tied with Alabama for the third-place spot. Tennessee checked in at number five.

Illinois was next at No. 6, followed by North Carolina, Iowa State, and Duke. NC State rounds out the top 10 despite never joining the poll during the regular season. Clemson, one of four ACC schools to make at least the Sweet 16, finished at No. 14.

The ACC had the same number of teams in the final AP poll as the Big 12, with four each.

ESPN lists Duke as the No. 1 team in their Way-Too-Early Top 25

Duke the top team in the country in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25.

Less than 48 hours after Dan Hurley’s Connecticut Huskies completed one of the rare college basketball feats of repeating as national champions, the page has already turned to 2024-25 for the rest of the college basketball world.

ESPN made sure to get its Way-Too-Early Top 25 up late on Monday night, and the number one team in those rankings resides in Durham, NC.

Duke bowed out of the NCAA Tournament this season in the Elite Eight to an NC State team that spent the last 12 games playing incredibly inspired basketball. Duke led in the first half, but State overwhelmed Duke with incredible shotmaking and suffocating defense in the second half to send the Blue Devils home.

Duke is now in the process of reflecting and retooling for next year. There’s a renewed energy around the program as Scheyer will welcome the nation’s top recruiting class, highlighted by one of the most heralded number one high school basketball players since LeBron James, forward Cooper Flagg.

ESPN staff writer Jeff Borzello, who put the rankings together, said this about his decision to put the Blue Devils at the top spot.

“Duke entered this past season as a national title contender, but never quite seemed to put it all together for an extended stretch and ultimately fell in the Elite Eight. Jon Scheyer will have two of the best NBA prospects in the country next season, in No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg and projected top-five NBA draft pick Khaman Maluach, but the Blue Devils could have point guard issues if Jeremy Roach decides not to take advantage of his fifth option year.”

Borzello also published a projected starting five that featured Flagg, Tyrese Proctor, Caleb Foster, Mark Mitchell, and Maluach. The issue is that Mitchell announced his intent to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday afternoon, so he will not be on the 2024-25 version of the Duke Blue Devils. Duke will likely opt to find a shooter to help space the floor with Flagg and also give those minutes vacated by Mitchell to rising sophomore Sean Stewart should he opt to return.

Tyrese Proctor has not announced whether he plans to enter the portal, opt for professional opportunities, or return to Duke. If we assume Proctor returns, he’s likely a captain and must leap like Wendell Moore. There’s a lot of talent there, but it needs to become consistent. A decision from Jeremy Roach also remains up in the air, and having a fifth-year senior could be massive.

All that aside, Duke plans to utilize the transfer portal, too, so Duke’s roster construction for next year is far from done, with more names expected on their way out, i.e., Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain, expected to be drafted in the first round.

Duke becomes only school to win bowl game and reach both Sweet 16s this year

After Sunday’s victories, Duke is the only school to win a football bowl game and make the men’s and women’s Sweet 16 during this academic year.

There’s a real argument that the Blue Devils are having the best year of any athletic program in the country.

After the women’s basketball team upset Ohio State and the men’s basketball team throttled James Madison on Sunday, Duke became the only school to win a bowl game and make the Sweet 16 in the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament during this academic year.

The Blue Devils beat Troy in the 76 Birmingham Bowl, a 17-10 defensive battle back in December led by interim coach Trooper Taylor. Duke’s football team has now won five consecutive postseason games dating back to 2015.

Junior guard Reigan Richardson has led the women’s basketball team through the postseason thus far. She’s averaged 26.5 points per game so far, including a 28-point performance against Ohio State, and she’s shooting 62.5% from beyond the arc through two games.

On the men’s side, freshman guard Jared McCain has played hero with a 30-point performance against James Madison. He made eight 3-pointers, the most by a Blue Devil in an NCAA Tournament game.

March finally arrives: Where is Duke in KenPom’s efficiency margin as the month starts?

With the famous month finally upon the college basketball world, see which peers Duke is ahead of and behind in KenPom’s efficiency ratings.

It’s finally here. We’ve finally made it to March.

With the sun rising on college basketball’s most famous month and the titular NCAA Tournament just weeks away, here’s a glance at where Duke sits in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency margin.

The Blue Devils are currently eighth in the national rankings as of March 1. They’re once again the highest-ranked team in the ACC with a narrow lead over rival North Carolina, who sits ninth.

The high ranking should reassure those in Durham, as a grand majority of the past dozen national champions ended the regular season as one of the site’s top 10 teams.

Duke has boasted a top-10 offense for much of the season, and KenPom currently measures the Blue Devils with 1.224 adjusted points per possession, the eighth-best mark in the country.

The Duke defense has come along as well, with the Blue Devils now up to 25th in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Houston holds a dominant lead on the top overall spot, with Purdue, Connecticut, Arizona, and Tennessee rounding out the rest of the top five.

Duke’s Saturday opponent, a feisty Virginia squad right on the tournament bubble, is 63rd in the national rankings but boasts the 10th-best defense.

USA TODAY Sports identifies Duke as an upward mover in latest Bracketology

After five straight wins, Duke basketball is moving higher and higher in the latest USA TODAY Sports bracket projections. How far can they go?

Duke has won its past five games and 16 of its past 18, and that recent form is starting to turn a lot of national heads.

USA TODAY Sports released its latest bracket projections on Friday, and the site earmarked the Blue Devils as a team to keep an eye on over the next few weeks.

The projections currently have Duke as a 3-seed in the East, but writers Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, and Eddie Timanus said the Blue Devils could get as high as a No. 2 seed with a strong finish to the season.

As of now, the Blue Devils would play the College of Charleston in the opening round with a second-round matchup against either Kentucky or Seton Hall. The top two seeds in the East are Connecticut and Kansas.

North Carolina, who is tied atop the ACC standings with Duke, is also a No. 3 seed. The Tar Heels are in the Midwest region behind Purdue and Iowa State with a first-round matchup against High Point.

Clemson (No. 7 seed) and Virginia (No. 9 seed) are both in the South region, and Wake Forest remains one of the first four out despite a good recent win over Pittsburgh.

Blue Devils are 10th overall seed in Lunardi’s latest bracket

The Blue Devils are above North Carolina in KenPom and ESPN BPI, but do they have a better tournament resume than the Tar Heels? ESPN’s Joe Lunardi weighs in.

Duke may have tied North Carolina on the ACC standings and pushed ahead of the Tar Heels in KenPom and ESPN BPI, but ESPN’s Joe Lunardi still thinks UNC has a better tournament resume.

The longtime ESPN bracket expert shared his updated top 16 teams on Thursday, and the Blue Devils only moved up to the 10th overall spot.

Duke featured as the No. 3 seed in the South region behind Houston and Tennessee, the third- and fifth-ranked teams in the nation on Lunardi’s board. Illinois rounded out the fourth seed in the region.

The Tar Heels, despite three losses in their past six games, remained one of Lunardi’s No. 2 seeds. They sat in his East region behind Connecticut, with Iowa State and San Diego State behind them.

Lunardi currently projects the ACC with four tournament teams, with Clemson as one of his No. 5 seeds and Virginia elsewhere in the field. Wake Forest was his first team out.

Wait a second, can Mark Mitchell shoot now?

Over his first 12 games, sophomore Mark Mitchell only made one of his 22 3-point attempts. In his last 11 games, he’s made seven out of 12.

If you hadn’t watched Duke basketball since December, you might be forgiven for doing a double-take when Mark Mitchell buried a triple against the Hurricanes on Wednesday.

The sophomore didn’t excel from distance last season, but he shot 35% from beyond the arc. For an interior forward, that was at least enough to be respected.

Mitchell started putting up more shots early in the 2023-24 season, however, and it didn’t have the results anyone wanted. He averaged 1.5 attempts from long range as a freshman, but he fired off four 3-point attempts in Duke’s home game against Arizona. He took three more against both Bucknell and Arkansas.

Across Duke’s first 12 games, Mitchell put up 22 3-point attempts. He made one of them.

Then the Notre Dame game happened.

The sophomore buried both of his 3-point attempts on the road in South Bend en route to a season-high 23 points and his first double-double of the year.

He made another against Clemson, two more against Boston College, and one of his two attempts against Wake Forest.

When his lone 3-point attempt of the game against Miami found the net, it capped off an 11-game run that saw Mitchell make seven of his 12 deep attempts. After averaging less than 5% from behind the 3-point line to start the year, he’s made 58.3% since.

In fact, he’s been one of the most efficient shooters in the country over the past six weeks (among high major teams).

A simple part of the math is how much more selective Mitchell has gotten from distance. He averaged 1.83 attempts per game over the first 12 games, and he’s averaged 1.09 attempts since.

Even outside of that, however, Mitchell has to be given credit for continuing to shoot his way through his early-season struggles. He may still be averaging only one deep attempt per game, but his visible confidence makes that sentence have a much different connotation than it did in December.

The boost hasn’t just come from his 3-point shooting, either. He reached 15 points or more in just one in his first 11 games, but he’s reached that same benchmark in six of his last 12 appearances. He’s averaged 14.6 points per game with three double-doubles since the calendar turned to 2024.

The 3-point shot was never meant to be a massive feature of Mitchell’s game. After all, he’s a 6-foot-9 forward who averages more than six rebounds per game. Anyway, Duke has three starters (if you count Caleb Foster’s recent run in the opening five) shooting at a 40% clip from long-range.

The Blue Devils don’t need Mitchell to morph into a marksman. From a spacing perspective, however, it would be crucial if teams respected that he could shoot. And if he’s done anything over the past five weeks, he’s shown teams can’t just assume he’s fine on the perimeter. That might be all Duke needs.

Duke now favored to win ACC according to ESPN BPI

After a five-game win streak, the Blue Devils now sit atop the ACC and have the best chance to take the regular-season title via ESPN BPI.

After Duke won its fifth straight game on Wednesday night, a near-30-point blowout over Miami on the road, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index thinks the Blue Devils are the best team in the ACC.

The Blue Devils moved up two spots to 10th in the site’s rankings, jumping two spots ahead of the North Carolina Tar Heels to assume the highest rank of any team in the conference.

Duke has won 16 of its last 18 games now and eight of its past nine, while the Tar Heels have lost three of their past six games.

The strength of Duke’s team has always been its offense, and the Blue Devils rank seventh in the nation in the site’s offensive power index. The defense has lagged behind a little but still moved up to 21st in the site’s defensive rankings after a few solid showings in a row.

ESPN’s modeling has the Blue Devils projected to win 24.9 games and 15.9 games in conference play. Once you factor in Duke’s current record of 21-5 and 12-3 in the ACC with five games left, the site is projecting almost an exact 4-1 finish to the regular season.

North Carolina’s projections are 23.7 wins and 15.7 ACC wins, so the two are truly neck-and-neck down the final straight.

The only other ACC teams in the top 35 are Wake Forest (21st) and Clemson (22nd).

Scouting Report: What to know about Miami before Saturday’s game

The Blue Devils take on the Hurricanes on Wednesday with a chance to draw even with North Carolina atop the ACC standings. Here’s all you need to know about Miami.

Duke fans probably had Wednesday’s game circled on the calendar before the 2023-24 season began.

After all, the Hurricanes dominated Duke the last time the Blue Devils made the trip south, an 81-59 victory in Coral Gables last February featuring a 17-point double-double from Norchad Omier.

Yes, Duke beat Miami at Cameron earlier in the season and bounced the Hurricanes from the ACC Tournament, but all Miami did after that was go on a spirited run to the Final Four.

The core of last year’s playoff run, names like Omier and Nijel Pack, came back for another go-round this season, and Duke coach Jon Scheyer probably wanted to prove a point with his return to Miami.

The Hurricanes’ season hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations, however, and suddenly this game feels more consequential for other teams in the ACC rather than Miami itself. Here’s a primer on the new-look Hurricanes ahead of Wednesday night’s game.