Duke Blue Devils battle Big Ten as ‘favorites’ for 19.1 PPG transfer

Duke Blue Devils battle Big Ten as ‘favorites’ for 19.1 PPG transfer originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Duke Blue Devils already know they’ll have Cayden Boozer back in their backcourt next season.

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Now, they would love to find someone great to pair with him — like Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell.

And in the early going, there’s positive belief around Duke in Blackwell’s recruitment.

“Blackwell is a powerful, scoring guard who plays a physical brand of clean basketball,” wrote Isaac Trotter of CBS Sports. “Blackwell is just so skilled, smart, competitive and tough. Blackwell has become a knockdown shooter from downtown, and he sheds defenders with get-off-me drives. All-Conference upside. Duke and Illinois are regarded as the favorites for now, with UCLA, Louisville, Arizona and Alabama certainly in the mix.”

Blackwell improved in each of his three seasons with the Badgers, and he was an absolute star in 2025-26. He averaged 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

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He also shot 38.9% from 3-point range on 7.3 attempts from beyond the arc before the game, so he’s a big-time shooter.

He’d immediately contend for All-American status playing at Duke.

If he chose to go to Illinois instead, there’d be the potential to slot in to the role Keaton Wagler held in 2025-26.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Blackwell liked the Big Ten enough to stick around, and get matchups against his former squad, or if he’d prefer to try something new.

There’s certainly not much more impressive of a move to make than to Duke, so maybe that will wind up appealing the most.

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Publish date : 2026-04-18 16:32:00

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