Updating the Duke MBB portal

The heavy lifting seems to be done. Is it enough?

Six weeks or so after the end of the season it looks like Duke men’s basketball’s 2024-’25 roster is set.

And, yes, you’ll need a scorecard. Or maybe the fancy new scoreboard will do the trick.

When last we discussed the portal I raised the subject of Jon Scheyer wanting his team to be older next season.

Was that goal met? I suppose we have to re-frame the question. Compared to what?

Remember Duke ended the season with 17 players theoretically committed for next season, four more than the allowable limit for recruited players.

So, we knew there was going to be some attrition. Had to be. But 2024-’25 Duke could have included fifth-year senior/grad student Jeremy Roach, fourth-year Jaylen Blakes and juniors Kyle Filipowski, Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor, five potential upperclassmen.

Proctor is the only one of that quintet to return. Filipowski announced for the NBA, the other three hit the portal.

As did most of the team. I’m not sure I expected the enthusiasm for greener pastures to be so high. Filipowski and Jared McCain left for the pros, where both are expected to be picked around the middle of the first round. No complaints from this quarter, although McCain’s hefty NIL portfolio gave me some hope that he might stick around for a second season. Alas and alack. No such luck.

But seven portal entries was one or two more than I expected.

Then again the two returnees are going to be major players. Proctor will by a junior with two seasons starting at point guard. Great way to enhance Cooper Flagg’s presumed one season at Duke. Caleb Foster will be a sophomore. Both are 6-5, both can run the offense or play off the ball and both are intelligent, hard-working players with the potential to show continued improvement. Stardom is a realistic goal for both, whatever that means.

But two returnees?  Wow, that hasn’t happened since way back in 2022-’23 when Jon Scheyer welcomed back only Roach and Blakes from Coach K’s last team.

In other words, Scheyer does have some experience with a massive rebuild.

Some of the portal losses were more unexpected than others. Just to get this out there I’m not going to speculate on NIL.  I strongly suspect that was a factor in some of the departures but this stuff is still pretty opaque and I don’t know anything for sure.

Roach is a two-time captain and he went through COVID and Mike Krzyzewski’s last season and Jon Scheyer’s first season and injuries and honors. He’ll have stories to tell his children.

Maybe Baylor dropped a bag, as the kids say these days. Or maybe Roach just wanted a change of scenery. It could be more basic than that. He’s lately been an undersized shooting guard at Duke and if he’s going to play at the next level he’s going to have to play point and that wasn’t going to happen at Duke next season. Hopefully, Baylor gives him a chance to hit reset.

Roach wasn’t the only starter to hit the road. Mark Mitchell has been a two-year starter at Duke. He averaged 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds in 28.5 minutes per game last season and is considered a plus defender at either forward position.

So, why isn’t he a cornerstone of Jon Scheyer’s third Duke team?

Well, he can’t shoot 3s in a 3-centric universe, which suggests he might not complement Flagg and Mitchell slumped badly down the stretch. His body language suggested someone not having a good time.

No one was surprised to see Jaylen Blakes, Christian Reeves or Jaden Schutt leave.

But T.J. Power and Sean Stewart did raise some eyebrows.