ACC Preview #18 – Duke, Part II

#1 – UNC || #2 – NC State || #3 – Wake Forest || #4 – Virginia || #5 – #Clemson||#6 – Miami || #7 – Louisville || #8 – Pitt || #9 – Georgia Tech || #10 – Syracuse || #11 – Boston College || #12 – Virginia Tech || #13 – Florida State || #14 – Notre Dame || #15 – SMU || #16 – Cal || #17 – Stanford || #18 – Duke Part I

Jon Scheyer continues to build interesting teams. This year, he has five players back: Caleb Foster, Patrick Ngongba, Dame Sarr, Cayden Boozer, and Sebastian Wilkins, who redshirted last season, something we won’t see again with players now getting five years instead of four.

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By contemporary standards, getting five players back is pretty good. Scheyer tends to take those guys, recruit some more outstanding high school players, and use the portal judiciously to add pieces that complement the whole.

This year is no different.

The crown jewel of the portal class is John Blackwell, a 6-5 senior who comes over from Wisconsin.

He was not highly recruited out of high school, but blossomed in Madison. Last season he scored 19.1 points per game, pulled down 5.1 boards, and averaged 2.3 assists. He also converted 67% of his catch-and-shoot threes and hit 85.9% from the line.

Blackwell also has a clutch gene and a habit of stepping up in big games for the Badgers. Last year, in the Big Ten Tournament, he lit up Washington for 34 points, and the next night torched his dad’s alma mater, Illinois, for 31 (his dad, Glynn, played for the Illini from 1984-88 and was a team captain as a senior).

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He also hit a dagger three-pointer against Minnesota last year, and a couple of weeks later scored the last 7 points against the Gophers in a ermatch. They’re probably happy to see him go.

Blackwell also gives Duke four point guards. He won’t start at the point, but like Foster, Boozer, and freshman Deron Rippey, he can play either spot.

In fact, it might be really rare to see Duke with just one point guard on the floor this season.

On…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/acc-preview-18-duke-part-115900317.html

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Publish date : 2026-09-18 11:59:00

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