For the first time this summer, Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer addressed a news conference on July 8th, discussing the previous season and the heartache it caused while also anticipating the 2025–2026 season with a new group.
It’s rare for a coach to lose all five of his starting players at once from a Final Four-bound team, but that’s what happened to the Blue Devils. The 2025 NBA Draft saw the selection of Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach, Tyrese Proctor, Sion James, and Kon Knueppel, leaving Scheyer and his staff with a very young and inexperienced rotation.
Scheyer talked about how losing his whole starting five affected him and how he immediately set out to restore his rotation.
“We were aware that we would have an opportunity to choose five players, but we also understood that would be a significant amount of firepower to replace. And I immediately thought that getting Isaiah Evans and Caleb Foster to return was the best way to do it. Maliq [Brown], Darren [Harris], and Pat [Ngongba]. Then to cement Cam [Boozer], Cayden [Boozer], and Nik [Khamenia]. We were aware that the eight-man roster was excellent.
The roster is more than just the top eight men, Scheyer added. The Blue Devils aren’t certain to regress next season, though, because of his ability to retain a number of important players and bolster the No. 1 overall recruiting class. Replicating a Final Four-winning team is incredibly challenging, particularly when all of the starting players are gone, but Scheyer and his staff have positioned themselves to succeed.
After a rather unsuccessful sophomore year, Foster is set for a breakthrough junior season. He started the season as a starter but failed to live up to expectations after being benched in favor of James. However, he is prepared to make a big impact on the collegiate basketball scene the next season, along with Evans and Harris.
Along with late signings Dame Sarr and Sebastian Wilkins, Scheyer is bringing in the top-ranked class of new rookies, which is led by the aforementioned men.
Cameron Boozer is widely regarded as the best incoming freshman in college basketball, and Khamenia just won a gold medal with the US U19 team at the FIBA U19 World Championships. Although the freshmen are bringing exceptional length and shooting, it will be crucial for their growth to transform Duke into a serious contender for the national title in 2025–2026.
