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Keeping Duke fans happy in May might be the hardest part of Jon Scheyer’s job.
Until the Blue Devils hang their next National Championship banner, every fan will have their own perspective on how best to build the next year’s team to accomplish that goal. In the era of social media, many of those fans will express those opinions loudly to anyone who cares to hear.
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This spring, Scheyer may have somehow found a way to quiet all of them.
Broadly speaking, there are three paths to building a roster in the modern era of college basketball: retention, transfers, and freshmen. Using all three strategies is near-impossible as NIL expectations rise exponentially and impact freshmen expect a clear and immediate role. But the teams that find a balance tend to be best positioned for success in March. Case in point: each of this year’s Final Four teams included immediate impact transfers, five-star freshmen, and multi-year retained players in their rotation.
In his first four seasons, Scheyer has struggled to match that balance. His first team was led almost entirely by freshmen alongside junior Jeremy Roach, with transfers playing only complementary roles. His second team relied almost entirely on retained players alongside freshman Jared McCain, but whiffed on filling holes via the transfer portal. Last year’s squad was similar, again bypassing the transfer portal while relying on a mix of retained players and star freshmen.
Scheyer best found a balance with the Cooper Flagg-led Final Four team, but even that squad had flaws. As Caleb Foster fell out of favor, Tyrese Proctor was the only rotation player who had worn a Duke uniform the previous season. Meanwhile, transfers Sion James, Maliq Brown, and Mason Gillis all played key roles, but none matched the star power that many recent National Champions found in the transfer portal.
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This offseason, it’s hard to find a similar issue in Scheyer’s roster construction.
Duke still brings in the top ranked…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/having-cake-eating-too-145631816.html
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Publish date : 2026-04-23 14:56:00
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