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It’s still hard to believe that last season’s Duke team didn’t win the national championship.
For large stretches of conference play and even into the NCAA tournament, the Blue Devils looked unbeatable. Even in the Final Four against Houston, Duke was in control almost the entire way. But one game slipping away is the difference between immortality and disappointment, and that’s what the Blue Devils experienced with a team that analytically is one of the highest-rated squads of the 21st century.
Revenge is on the Blue Devils’ minds in 2025, and while it’s unrealistic to expect even much-hyped freshman Cameron Boozer to match what Cooper Flagg brought to Durham, N.C., talent is certainly not in short supply. Duke could conceivably have three more NBA draft lottery picks and five more first-round picks in 2026 if things break right. They also have a nice mix of players with experience from last season’s disappointment to go with a loaded freshman class. Keeping Caleb Foster, the team’s likely starting point guard, and Isaiah Evans, likely its best shooter, was huge, and returning a pair of impressive talents at center in Patrick Ngongba II and Maliq Brown is also nice considering how hard it is to find quality frontcourt players in the portal. So while Duke may not have the ability to totally overwhelm teams the way it did a year ago, there still might not be a more talented team in college basketball than the Blue Devils.
Projected Starting Lineup
PG: Caleb Foster
SG: Isaiah Evans
SF: Dame Sarr
PF: Cameron Boozer
C: Patrick Ngongba II
Key Reserves: PG Cayden Boozer, W Nik Khamenia, C Maliq Brown
Key Additions
The face of the program at Duke this season will be Cameron Boozer, son of 2001 national champion and NBA All-Star Carlos. Boozer may not have quite the same NBA upside as fellow top prospects Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa, but those two potential stars don’t have Boozer’s history of elite production and winning. In high school, Boozer won four state championships in Florida and a national championship his senior year against top prep schools that recruit from all around the world while playing for a catholic school in Miami. He won three Peach Jam championships, the highest honor in AAU basketball. He also took home a pair of gold medals with Team USA. And in the process, he has averaged 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds at basically every step of the way. His play-to-play impact might not be quite as big as Flagg’s was, but he has a chance to be a dominant college player and seriously contend for national player of the year honors.
His twin brother, Cayden Boozer, also joins the Blue Devils. Cayden’s a more traditional pure table-setter than the score-first Foster and could challenge for early rotation minutes.
But the ceiling of this group is really dictated by which of Duke’s ultra-talented wings emerge. There’s the aforementioned Evans, who took over games at times last year with his shooting ability but has limitations beyond that. Dame Sarr was one of the highest-upside prospects in Europe developing in powerhouse Barcelona’s system and came to the U.S. for a payday and chance at more consistent playing time. He’s an NBA-level athlete with elite defensive upside but inconsistency as a shooter. And then there’s Nik Khamenia, who has great size at 6' 8", strong passing chops and impressive feel for the game. Two, maybe even three of these guys will likely hear their names called in the first round of next year’s draft.
Causes for Concern
Duke’s undoing in that Houston game (and arguably in its other three losses last season, too) was its point guard play, not its youth. Duke’s best lineups last year were with Sion James, a game manager and low-usage shooter, on the floor and Flagg initiating the offense, rather than running more through Foster who saw his minutes dwindle down the stretch. Don’t be surprised if Duke does similar things with Boozer (on a smaller scale; he doesn’t quite have Flagg’s ball skills) while freeing up Foster to go score, but the lack of a true table-setter bit them in key moments in half-court offense last season. Could Cayden Boozer eventually emerge as that guy? Possibly, though his lack of three-point shooting might create other problems.
The Bottom Line
Duke has one of the best players in the country in Boozer leading the way and a roster with as much NBA talent as any team in the sport. There’s a natural reticence among preseason pollsters to hedge their bets on young teams like Duke, but what the Blue Devils did last season proves just how quickly those concerns can go out the window with the right personnel in place. This should be the ACC favorite and a group with every chance to cut down the nets next April in Indianapolis.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sports Illustrated’s Men’s College Basketball Preseason Top 25: No. 4 Duke.
