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In the news conference after the last game of last season, Duke coach Jon Scheyer was reflective and introspective in his closing comments.
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The Blue Devils had just suffered a heart-breaking loss to Connecticut, after a sudden Duke turnover and a long 3-pointer by UConn’s Braylon Mullins at the buzzer. There was no Final Four for Duke, no chance to pursue a sixth national championship.
“End of the day, we’ve got to finish it off,” Scheyer said after the NCAA regional final in Washington, D.C. “We’ll reflect. We’ll learn, do all that.”
And just like that plans for the 2026-27 basketball season went into motion. Scheyer and his coaching staff reflected. They went back to Durham and back to work in putting together a new roster, one that will be missing Cameron Boozer, but not lacking a load of basketball talent.
When Scheyer said “finish it off,” he meant the UConn game, where the Blue Devils held a 15-point lead at halftime. He also meant the season. At Duke, to finish it off means cutting down the nets and lifting the NCAA championship trophy, something the Devils have not done since 2015.
The team assembled for this season should be ranked in the top five, if not top two, in every major preseason poll or media guesstimate. Coaches like to talk about having the right “pieces,” and the Blue Devils have more than enough to make another push for the title.
Consider this potential starting five:
Caleb Foster, point guard.
John Blackwell, shooting guard.
Dame Sarr, small forward.
Joakim Boumtje Boumtje, power forward.
Patrick Ngongba, center.
Wait, there’s more.
Sophomore Cayden Boozer and freshman Deron Rippey Jr. could push Foster for playing time as the primary ball-handler. Freshman forward Cam Williams could push to start. Freshman wing Bryson Howard can shoot. Drew Scharnowski, the 6-10, 240-pound transfer from Belmont, can bang and could be the strongest player on the team. Freshman Max Meyer is listed at 7-1 and is another capable big.
Not to be forgotten or overlooked: Sebastian Wilkins, the sophomore forward, redshirted last season, is 6-8 and 220 pounds and offers more depth.
It’s a team that on paper can go big and go small. It should be able to defend. Scheyer will have options aplenty.
Truth is, Duke’s roster appears so deep the Blue Devils might be able to field two teams that could contend in the ACC. And that’s with Cam Boozer and Isaiah Evans now gone to the NBA, when they could have stayed another season.
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The Blue Devils have won the past two ACC titles with lineups that included Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and then Cam Boozer, the national player of the year last season. The Blue Devils don’t figure to have a top-3 NBA draft pick in the lineup this season but will have an imposing team and should be the ACC preseason favorite again.
Blackwell, a senior transfer from Wisconsin, is a proven scorer hardened by Big Ten battles who picked Duke after considering the NBA draft. Boumtje Boumtje, a 7-2 freshman, won’t be age-eligible for the NBA draft until 2028 and already is being pegged as a possible No. 1 pick.
Scheyer, entering his fifth season as head coach, did not hold a summer press conference, and the Blue Devils have not held an open August basketball practice, as they did last year at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
In a recent episode of “The Brotherhood Podcast” on the Duke basketball YouTube channel, Foster talked of all the offseason work and how this year’s team identity should be.
“Kinda simple,” Foster said. “We want to be a defense-first team, a team that plays hard and shares the ball and creates advantages and everybody eats.”
Foster noted offseason bonding has come in such fun outings as a go-kart challenge and in the team’s strenuous “Strongman” conditioning workout that includes a session on a stationary bike, tire flip, the “farmer’s carry” with a pair of 45-pound weights and a truck push.
Foster, on the podcast a few weeks ago, said he is completely recovered from the foot injury that slowed and sidelined him late last season. Ngongba, who also dealt with a foot problem, said he is continuing to rehab and has been watching practices.
Duke’s annual Countdown to Craziness has been set for Oct. 3 at Cameron, offering students and fans a peek at what’s to come. Soon after will be games against Tennessee and Kansas — in the preseason.
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Scheyer put together a demanding schedule last season and has done it again.
The goal: finish it off.
This story was originally published August 14, 2026 at 5:30 AM.