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.
