Duke finalizes men's basketball roster

Two key additions as the rich get richer

With the news that Cedric Coward is staying in the NBA draft and the addition of Dame Sarr and Sebastian Wilkins, it looks like Duke’s 2025-’26 roster is set. I’ll be doing some deep dives over the next few weeks but want to share some initial thoughts on the recent additions.

Let’s get one thing straight. After signing Cameron Boozer, Cayden Boozer and Nik Khamenia and welcoming back Caleb Foster, Maliq Brown, Isaiah Evans, Patrick Ngongba and Darren Harris, there was never a chance Duke was going to be out of next season’s title conversation.

But there were some bumps in the road. We always knew Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach were gone. Sion James and Mason Gillis used up their eligibility, unless some court decides eligibility limits are a restraint of trade or something,

But Duke was long considered the favorite for consensus top-five forward Nate Ament. The relationship went sour and Ament decided to become a Vol. duke signee Shelton Henderson flipped to Jai Lucas and Miami. Tyrese Proctor decided to stay in the NBA draft despite the second-round looming.

Duke appeared to cover some of these losses when they secured Washington State wing Cedric Coward in the transfer portal. Coward was coming off shoulder surgery and maybe he wouldn’t be able to show his talents to the NBA.

Duke lost that gamble. Coward went through the NBA draft process and apparently liked what he heard. He officially announced his intention to stay in the draft last Friday but either clued Jon Scheyer in earlier or Scheyer did a masterful job of reading the tea leaves.

And somehow Scheyer and all those support systems pivoted and came out not only with two additions but two impact additions, not only two key additions but two additions apparently headed elsewhere but snatched away at the last minute with the casual assurance of the Florida Panthers looking the Carolina Hurricanes in the eye and asking “what were you expecting? This is what we do.”

Sarr would appear to be the more immediately impactful of the two. He’s a 6-8 wing, a bit on the skinny side, which should bring out those inevitable Brandon Ingram comparisons.

His father is from Senegal, his mother from Italy. He was born and raised in Italy but has been playing in Barcelona, in a pro league but is eligible for college ball because, well, because. Jabari Parker is one of his tesammates.

He’s considered a five-star recruit. a plus athlete, plus skill set, high basketball IQ, can get to the rim and finish.

I tend to ignore prep all-star games for evaluative purposes. Too much hey-look-at-me, too little passing, defense, setting screens, blocking out, the kind of things that win real basketball games.

With one exception. The Nike Hoop Summit pits an international team against the USA and it comes off like a real basketball game. One with talent on both sides.

Cam Boozer led the US squad to a 124-114 overtime victory this spring with 22 points and 16 rebounds.

But Sarr was one of the best players on the World Team, with 17 points and four rebounds. He’s considered a five-star recruit and likely 2026 lottery pick.

And likely Kansas Jayhawk. At least until a couple of weeks ago. People who do this sort of thing for a living had him penciled in for Lawrence.

But Scheyer turned up the heat once it became apparent Coward was staying in the draft.

It seems Dame Sarr--first name two syllables, by the way--was waiting for a Duke offer all along. He put Kansas on hold to see if Duke would call.

“Duke was my dream school,” he told ESPN. “When I had a chance to go there, I had to take it.”

He added that his “ultimate goal was to play in the NBA. There’s no better place to prepare you for that then Duke.”

The Brotherhood, 101.

Wilkins is a 6-8, 215-pound combo forward. He was originally in the prep class of 2025, moved to 2026, then reclassified back to his original class. He’s from Massachusetts but prepped at New Hampshire’s Brewster Academy, one of those schools that churns out college basketball players like clockwork.

Wilkins led Brewster to the finals of the Chipotle Nationals semifinals, where they lost 47-45 to Cam and Cayden Boozer’s Columbus (Florida) team in the semifinals.

Wilkins was believed to be something close to a lock for Maryland before Scheyer swooped in. You know the rest.

“Duke has always been my dream school,” he told ESPN and no that’s not a cut-and-paste.

“I remember seeing Zion Williamson playing against Tacko Fall in the NCAA Tournament and that’s when I knew Duke was for me.”

Sarr and Wilkins give Duke 10 rotation-level players, with three more practice-level players. We may see an addition or two at the practice-level, maybe even a walk-on or two. Next Spencer Hubbard? Come on down.

And, yes, there are still question marks and we’ll talk about them down the road. But Duke fans have to feel pretty good about the state of a program that lost its entire starting five to the NBA draft.