Tag: Kon Knueppel

Duke freshman guard Darren Harris out indefinitely with fractured hand

Incoming Duke basketball freshman Darren Harris is out indefinitely after fracturing non-shooting hand, the team announced on Friday.

Duke’s injury bug has been a well-documented occurrence in the Duke basketball program over the last decade or more. There have been some devastating injuries that some would even believe cost the Blue Devils’ chances at national titles.

Last year’s team experienced some significant injury issues, including injuries to starting point guard Tyrese Proctor, which forced him to miss more than ten games last year. Jeremy Roach missed a few games as well. Caleb Foster was lost for the remainder of the season after a stress fracture in his foot was aggravated in the road game against Wake Forest.

Proctor and Foster return as significant pieces for the 2024-25 Duke team that seems ready to go after the team’s first practices. Even with that said, an injury has already impacted this year’s team.

Darren Harris is the first Blue Devil on this year’s team to suffer a significant injury. The program announced that the freshman, one of six 2024 signees for head coach Jon Scheyer, fractured his non-shotting hand at some point over the summer.

This injury would explain Darren Harris’ noticeable absence from the team’s player-specific highlight videos released on social media this week showcasing every scholarship team member.

Harris had surgery on Tuesday, the team said, and he is expected to make a full recovery.

There is no official timetable for his return, but this type of injury typically requires a six-week recovery, meaning that Harris may miss the entire summer. The timeframe will put him on track to pick things back up as the team prepares for the season.

Harris came to Duke as the 2023-24 Gatorade Virginia Player of the Year and finished as the No. 37 player in the country, according to 247Sports. He led his high school, Fairfax (VA) Paul VI, to the national title game, where they faced off against his now-teammate Cooper Flagg and Montverde Academy. They finished with a 33-2 overall record, averaging 17.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.9 steals per game.

With his injury, Duke’s potential rotation log jam somewhat clears up.

It’s hard to imagine early in the season without practice time that Harris will contribute early. Fellow freshmen Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel look to fit into reserve roles off the bench, most likely. It also means that the addition of Sion James solidifies him as the team’s third guard for the foreseeable future, assuming Proctor and Foster are starters.

Haris’s potential as a shooter will be missed, but since the injury is not season-ending, Duke is hopeful he can come back and be a contributor at some point.

Duke Blue Devils, Jon Scheyer add Tulane Green Wave transfer guard Sion James

Duke adds Tulane transfer Sion James.

The Duke Blue Devils landed their third transfer of the offseason when Tulane transfer Sion James announced his commitment on Friday. On3’s Joe Tipton first reported the decision.

James declared for the NBA Draft while retaining his eligibility earlier this spring. After a pre-draft workout in Memphis last week, James officially visited Duke, and the rest is history.

The newest Blue Devil is listed as a 6-foot-6, 220-pound guard who appeared in 31 games for the Green Wave during the 2023-24 season, leading the team in minutes at nearly 37 per game. He was highly productive, with averages of 14.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per contest while shooting 51% from the field. He was proficient from deep, too, shooting 38% with an effective field goal percentage of 59 percent, good for the 84th percentile in college basketball last year.

James’ value to Duke is his physicality and slashing ability. One area Duke has lacked in the last couple of seasons was a guard consistently getting downhill to the lane and finishing regularly. James has the size and strength, coupled with an excellent first step, to be a menace to opposing defenses as he attacks the lane. Half of his shot attempts last year were at the rim, where he shot 62%.

He also played point guard for the Green Wave, highlighted by his 13% assist rate. He routinely initiated offenses for Tulane and could create shots for others even when out of sets.

[autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag]’s second season at Duke improved in many areas from year one. However, it was not without turbulence. That’s part of the growth process for a young coach—especially one without any head coaching experience before he took over the job from the legendary Mike Krzyzewski.

After an appearance in the Elite Eight that saw them lose to NC State, it was back to the drawing board for Scheyer and his staff as they look to bring Duke its sixth national championship and first since 2015.

Seven players from the 2023-24 team entered the transfer portal. The type of mass exodus that would have any program scrambling. Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster announced their intentions to return. Duke has six freshmen inbound, led by high school basketball’s best player, Cooper Flagg. The Blue Devils already added Purdue transfer Mason Gillis and Syracuse big man Maliq Brown from the portal.

Duke now has three guards who aren’t freshmen. They can rely on one to bring the ball up. It also gives Duke another wrinkle of versatility, as James can seamlessly guard positions 1-3. Hence, it allows Scheyer to run a full three-guard lineup like this past year or have one of Proctor, Foster, or James come off the bench as a big-time stabilizing force for Duke’s second unit.

This addition also allows Duke not to rely on freshmen Darren Harris, Kon Knueppel, and Isaiah Evans nearly as much and will enable them to ease into the college game.

Duke’s impact transfer portal pursuits are wrapped up. Any other transfers are likely for deep bench depth and are unlikely to be counted on as meaningful contributors nightly.

Cooper Flagg aside, Duke’s remaining 2024 signees all finish in the top 50 of On3’s final rankings

Taking a look at the rest of Duke’s 2024 class in the final rankings.

Cooper Flagg cemented himself as the clear-cut No. 1 prospect in America during his final season in high school, leading Montverde Academy to an undefeated season en route to a national championship. He took home many awards and made multiple statement appearances during high school basketball’s most prestigious postseason all-star games, like the Nike Hoop Summit and Jordan Brand Classic.

However, he’s not the only prospect the Blue Devils are set to bring in this summer. Duke’s 2024 class is pretty historic, even without considering Flagg. In the final On3 rankings, all six Duke signees finished within the top 50 spots.

Khaman Maluach, a projected lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, slots in at ninth in the final rankings. His performance in the Nike Hoop Summit wasn’t spectacular, but his work at NBA Academy Africa and in the Basketball Africa League showcases why he’s considered a potential top-five pick in next year’s draft. The 7-footer has the tools to be a game-changer for Duke next season alongside Flagg.

Kon Knueppel finished at 17th, and his blend of size and skill gave him an easy path to playing time off the bench next season as a steady offensive presence. He can shoot the ball, handle it, and even initiate offense.

Isaiah Evans dominated social media, especially in North Carolina, as he cemented himself as one of the state’s best high school players in state history. His North Mecklenburg high school team won a state championship at North Carolina’s highest classification, and they rode the wave of Evans’s talented shotmaking and fiery competitive spirit to get it done. Evans may be slight physically, but his length, energy, and shotmaking will be valuable to Duke next year. On3 ranked him as the 25th-best prospect in their final rankings.

Patrick Ngongba joined the Blue Devils in November. While his high school season was very short due to an injury that kept him out until March, he showcased a little of his game in the Chipotle Nationals. Getting his conditioning back and back into shape is his biggest hurdle as he gets ready for Duke, but even with his injuries, On3 ranked him as their 35th-best prospect.

Last but certainly not least, Darren Harris clocks in at 43 in the final rankings. The sharpshooting guard raised many eyebrows in his senior season, highlighted by an electric showing at the Chipotle Nationals alongside Ngongba on their Paul VI Catholic team that finished the season ranked second in the country. Harris can shoot the cover off of the ball, and because of that, it’s hard not to see him competing for minutes come November.

Duke’s class has a lot of depth and versatility, and it will be fun seeing all the talented freshmen get on campus and try to acclimate themselves to the college game. Duke may have six freshmen coming in, but it’s hard not to be excited about what they can offer next year’s team.

When and how to watch Cooper Flagg, other Duke commits at the Jordan Brand Classic

Cooper Flagg and four other fellow Duke signees lace up their shoes for Sunday’s Jordan Brand Classic. Check out when and where you can watch here.

Duke fans can get another sneak peek of the 2024-25 Duke men’s basketball team on Sunday night.

All five U.S.-based Blue Devils signees for the incoming Class of 2024, including top-ranked prospect Cooper Flagg, are on the roster for the Jordan Brand Classic. The exhibition pits some of the best high school basketball players in the country against each other.

Flagg, Isaiah Evans, Kon Knueppel, Darren Harris, and Patrick Ngongba will all be at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the game. The boy’s game tips off at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday evening, and fans can watch either through the NBA app or on the NBA YouTube channel.

Flagg already impressed scouts and fans alike at a similar showcase, the Nike Hoop Summit, last week. He put up a 19-point double-double to help Team USA to a comfortable victory.

Based on reactions to Saturday’s practice sessions, Duke fans can expect a similar performance this weekend.

Five-star Duke signee Kon Knueppel named Wisconsin’s Mr. Basketball

Kon Knueppel, a five-star Duke signee and 247Sports’ No. 17 player in the nation, was named Wisconsin’s Mr. Basketball on Wednesday.

Kon Knueppel, a five-star Duke signee, was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Wisconsin on Wednesday.

The honor, bestowed upon the best high school player in the state, goes to the highest-ranked player in the state. Knueppel, a 6-foot-5 forward and 247Sports’ No. 17 player in the Class of 2024, is the highest player from the state of Wisconsin in his year.

Knueppel plays for Wisconsin Lutheran, a school in Milwaukee. He helped lead his team to a 28-0 record so far this season, and his team is currently in the Division 2 WIAA Boys Basketball State semifinals.

Knueppel joins a historically good 2024 Duke class that features five of the top 18 players in the country. Naismith High School Boys Player of the Year Cooper Flagg and projected 2025 lottery pick Khaman Maluach will join him in Durham next season.

Meet Duke’s entire 2024 commitment class here.

Travis Branham of 247Sports has crystal balled Khaman Malauch to Duke

Duke has its third prediction for the Blue Devils to land projected lottery pick Khaman Maluach.

Things are heating up in the Duke Blue Devils’ pursuit of what would likely be the final piece of their already historic 2024 recruiting class.

Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-2 center from South Sudan, is nearing a decision and announcement about where he will play basketball next year.

Maluach is not ranked on 247’s website due to a policy they have on international recruits, but the moment he announces he plans to attend college in the USA, he will be added to the rankings and is a lock to be a five-star prospect. His talent speaks for itself, as he is already being mocked as a top-five pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Maluach has narrowed his decision to five options: Duke, G League Ignite, Kansas, Kentucky, and UCLA. Duke was his first visit before eventually visiting the other blue bloods listed. Still, despite his visits and conversations with the G League Ignite representatives, Duke has remained a constant. So much so that one of 247 Sports’ best basketball recruiting insiders has logged a crystal ball in favor of Duke landing the incredibly gifted prospect.

If said prediction comes to fruition, Duke could potentially have its best recruiting class of all time, shattering some of their other incredible hauls over the last ten years. Cooper Flagg is already in the boat and is the nation’s No. 1 player.

It doesn’t seem like hyperbole to think that if Maluach decides to play basketball for a year in college, he’ll be a top-five recruit. Add that to five-star Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel and four-star high school teammates Patrick Ngongba II and Darren Harris, and it’s hard to imagine a better haul in recent high school recruiting memory. The Blue Devils would have five players within the top 20 of 247’s rankings.

An announcement is expected before the end of March. Whether or not Duke lands Maluach is still to be decided, but the momentum favors Duke as we enter the waning hours of this recruitment.

New mock draft from The Athletic has Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain as first-rounders

Duke’s Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain are first rounders in Athletic mock draft.

The NCAA season has hit its stride and is streaking towards March, which means conference tournaments followed by the Big Dance.

At this point, every college basketball team has played well over 20 games, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that teams have begun to separate themselves from the pack as we gear up for what figures to be another hotly contested NCAA Tournament.

As the NCAA Tournament nears, it also signals that college basketball is ending, and with that, we will be even closer to the 2024 NBA Draft. While many pundits have declared this a less star-filled draft class for months, there is still a plethora of prospects that could develop into meaningful NBA contributors down the road.

Duke has done its part for the last decade in producing NBA talent, which figures not to stop this year. The Athletic released a new mock draft (subscription required) on Tuesday, and the Blue Devils have two projected first-rounders as things stand right now.

The obvious choice is their talented big man, Kyle Filipowski. Filipowski is having a solid year, and writer Sam Vecenie has Filipowski projected to go ninth to the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite the Thunder being the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, the abundance of draft capital they have accumulated over the years will remain valuable. They are ahead of schedule in their rebuild and can still land lottery-caliber talent despite playing some of the best basketball in the NBA this year.

Adding Filipowski would give the Thunder a multi-faceted big man to play behind Chet Holmgren and allow them to stretch defenses due to Filipowki’s ability to shoot 35% from a distance.

Elsewhere in the first round, long-range assassin Jared McCain was mocked to the Atlanta Hawks at 19th overall. McCain is shooting 41% from deep and has showcased a well-rounded offensive game, scoring at all three levels. Despite his smallish size and the fact that he may never be a true point guard, McCain’s offensive upside as a shooter has him being compared to former Blue Devil Seth Curry. He is also a terrific rebounder for his size and position and plays tough.

If McCain continues shooting at or above 40 percent, he will be drafted in the first round in June.

Notably, Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor are nowhere to be found in this mock draft. Both returned to school to improve their draft stock and while Mark Mitchell has improved this season, his lack of a 3-point shot has impacted his pro prospects. He’s a tweener forward with a good inside game but cannot stretch defenses the way the NBA prefers.

Is it possible for Mitchell to come back for a junior season? With NIL, money is less of a worry for prospects not guaranteed to go to the second round. The same can be applied to Tyrese Proctor. Two unfortunate injuries have cut into many games for Proctor. He has yet to leap like many thought he would in year two, but his value to Duke is notable. They are a better defensive team, and his assist-to-turnover ratio is one of the best in the ACC.

Would Proctor consider coming back to Duke? Or transfer out for opportunities elsewhere following the season? If Proctor were to come back and run the backcourt with Caleb Foster and be the ultimate facilitator as Duke welcomes the nation’s number one player in Cooper Flagg and a plethora of talented freshmen shooters in Isaiah Evans, Kon Knueppel, and Darren Harris, it would be a boost to his pro prospects as a lead guard.

These decisions are looming for the Duke basketball program, and we still have tournament season before we see how it all works out.

BREAKING: Wisconsin five-star in-state 2024 target Kon Knueppel commits to a familiar blue blood

Bad news for the Badgers:

It is not all good news on the Wisconsin basketball front. The Badgers’ top class of 2024 target Kon Knueppel committed to Duke earlier tonight, marking the end of a nationwide recruiting battle centered here in Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee native is a five-star recruit on 247Sports.com and ranked as the No. 16 player in the class of 2024, No. 7 small forward and No. 1 recruit from the state of Wisconsin.

The Badgers’ class of 2024 remains No. 22 in the nation with top point guard Daniel Freitag and three-star shooting guard Jack Robinson currently committed.

Knueppel joins a Duke program that Badger fans are sure to be unfond of after it ended Wisconsin’s bid for a national championship in 2015.

Report: Five-star in-state SF Kon Knueppel sets date for official visit to Wisconsin

Knueppel will be on campus later this fall:

Wisconsin is still in the running for five-star 2024 small forward Kon Knueppel, or at least that’s what the latest news indicates.

Evan Flood of 247Sports reported yesterday that the Milwaukee, Wisconsin native will visit Madison on September 12, figuring to give Greg Gard and the Badgers program another shot at landing his commitment.

Knueppel is 247Sports’ No. 22 player in the class of 2024, No. 9 small forward and No. 1 recruit from the state of Wisconsin. He has offers from top programs across the sport, including Duke, Virginia, Iowa, Illinois, Miami and Michigan State.

The fall will be a busy time for the highly-coveted recruit as he has visits planned to Alabama, Duke, Virginia, Stanford and Notre Dame in that time.

Gard’s already-stellar 2024 class will rise into the nation’s top five it he is able to land Knueppel. Winning this recruiting battle would go a long way toward constructing the most talented roster the Wisconsin program has had in some time.

Wisconsin makes the top four for a top-100 recruit in the class of 2024

Wisconsin’s class of 2024 could crack the nation’s top five if it lands two highly-coveted targets..

The Wisconsin basketball program has a massive few months ahead.

No, there aren’t any games scheduled. But Greg Gard’s class of 2024, which is ranked in the top 15 nationally and led by top point guard Daniel Freitag, has a few massive targets that will be wrapping up their recruiting process.

The first is five-star in-state small forward Kon Knueppel, a top-20 recruit in the class who has interest from the sport’s blue bloods.

The second is four-star power forward Jackson McAndrew. The Minneapolis, Minnesota, native is 247Sports’ No. 88 player in the class of 2024 and No. 1 recruit from his home state.

Earlier Monday, McAndrew included Wisconsin in his final four schools with Xavier, Creighton and Notre Dame.

Wisconsin’s class would challenge for the best in the country if it landed both Knueppel and McAndrew. But ranking aside, their signing would set Gard and the program up for an incredible level of success moving forward.