College basketball fans should be used to Duke introducing a new crop of freshman stars every year, but next season the turnover will be on the upswing.
Sean Stewart, a five-star recruit in last year’s top-ranked Rivals freshman class, announced Friday that he will enter the transfer portal for “the continued growth and development of my basketball goalsHe is the seventh member of last year’s Duke roster to do so, joining classmate TJ Power and Jeremy Roach, Mark Mitchell, Jaylen Blakes, Christian Reeves and Jaden Schutt.
Stewart, Power, Roach and Mitchell were all five-star recruits, while Reeves and Schutt were four-star recruits.
That exodus, coupled with a pair of graduations and Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft, means Duke plans to return with a total of three players from a team that won the Reached Elite Eight.
The returnees are junior guard Tyrese Proctor, sophomore guard Caleb Foster and senior walk-on Stanley Borden. Proctor and Foster have both said they will stay, while Borden remains eligible.
Here’s what that team looks like from a scholarship roster perspective:
The good news for Duke, of course, is their incoming freshmen, which could also account for a few of those transfers. The Blue Devils have captured by far the top class in the country, led by Rivals No. 1 overall recruit Cooper Flagg.
Flagg is flanked by three other five stars: No. 9 recruit Kon Kneuppel, No. 13 recruit Isaiah Evans and Khaman Maluach, who is not listed in the Rivals 150 but is expected to be a lottery pick. Four stars Patrick Ngongba II and Darren Harris complete the six-member group.
ESPN also notes that Duke is expected to be active in the transfer portal and is reportedly targeting Maliq Brown (Syracuse), Brandon Angel (Stanford) and Mason Gillis (Purdue).
Next season will be Duke head coach Jon Scheyer’s first without a single player from the Mike Krzyzewski era. It’s also shaping up to be a make-or-break year for the Duke alum, who has managed to continue Coach K’s perennial recruiting dominance but has thus far failed to reach the Final Four. Both of his teams have gone 27-9, with an ACC Tournament championship in 2023, but Duke fans are clearly looking for something more.
