No Trevor Keels. No AJ Green. Who could Duke basketball add? A look at current roster
Wednesday’s deadline day for NBA draft participants brought two doses of bad news for Duke basketball.
The Blue Devils hoped to retain Trevor Keels for his sophomore season or attract Northern Iowa transfer A.J. Green to give them an experienced shooting guard for next season’s roster. They went 0-for-2 as both players remained in the draft pool, ending their college careers to turn professional.
Duke still has a chance to land an experienced guard as Courtney Ramey from Texas remains a possibility through the transfer portal, although he’s yet to visit Duke’s campus.
But where does this week’s developments leave Duke overall? First-year head coach Jon Scheyer is, for the most part, bullish on his roster, which is stacked thanks to the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.
“We feel good,” Scheyer said Wednesday. “We’re looking at every option and we don’t want to over recruit. We love the team that we have right now. We need to make sure we have enough ball handling and playmaking and those kinds of things, but we love our group and we’ll go to bat with these guys any day of the week. There’s no hesitation at all with that.”
Here’s a look at what the Blue Devils have and what they could still add.
With no Keels, who’s left to run the offense?
The Blue Devils have one experienced guard in rising junior Jeremy Roach, who decided in April he would stay for his third season of college basketball.
Roach started Duke’s first 17 games last season before moving to a reserve role for most of the remainder of the regular season. But coach Mike Krzyzewski reinstated Roach as a starter for the NCAA tournament, with Keels coming off the bench, and Roach played well.
While helping Duke to the Final Four, the 6-1 Roach averaged 11.8 points per game. While scoring 15 points in both games, he hit clutch shots late, helping Duke beat Michigan State, 85-76, in the second round and Texas Tech, 78-73, in the Sweet 16.
As of now, he’ll be the Blue Devils main ball-handler and a key scoring threat on the perimeter next season. That’s a big reason why he’s still at Duke.
“Just take the momentum that I had in the tournament and take it into next year,” Roach said. “I mean, I know I know what it takes now. Everybody expects big things from me. I’m the oldest returner. There are going to be some big things on my back this year. So I’m gonna handle it. It’s going to be exciting.”
Joey Baker’s decision last month to transfer leaves Duke with only one other guard with college experience in rising sophomore Jaylen Blakes. A deep reserve last season, Blakes played in 21 games as a freshman.
Who could be coming in?
The 6-3 Ramey would bring even more experience, although not at Duke. He played four seasons at Texas, where he was a starter while helping the Longhorns go 22-12 and reach the NCAA tournament’s second round.
He made 39.7% of his shots overall, including 35% of his 3-pointers while averaging 9.4 points per game last season. He has one season of eligibility remaining due to NCAA COVID-19 pandemic rules that allow for a fifth season.
Duke is among several schools interested in adding Ramey, who starred at Webster Groves (Mo.) High School in suburban St. Louis before heading to Texas. Duke’s connection to his family is strong, though, thanks to Duke associate head coach Chris Carrawell, a St. Louis native.
Carrawell starred at St. Louis’ Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School prior to his Duke playing career. Ramey’s father, Terrell, has worked at Cardinal Ritter the last seven years as community outreach director while also running his own grassroots team.
As of now, Ramey is Duke’s main target in the transfer portal.
What about the freshmen?
Lots to be excited about here for sure.
In terms of ballhandlers, 6-6 Dariq Whitehead projects to fill the same role Wendell Moore starred in last season before leaving for the NBA this spring. A five-star recruit and national high school player of the year from Montverde Academy in Florida, Whitehead can score from the perimeter and effectively drive for baskets.
Duke’s other hope on the perimeter is 6-5 shooting guard Jaden Schutt, a sharp-shooter from Illinois. At this point, he projects as the team’s best perimeter shooter with Roach working to improve on the 32.2% 3-point shooting he turned in last season.
Duke added 6-6 small forward Kale Catchings from Harvard as well. Catchings made 36.5% of his 3-pointers last season while hitting 49.7% of his shots overall. So he could be counted on to provide some scoring in a reserve role.
Duke is loaded with talented big men
While there are questions with the guards and small forwards, Duke has plenty of firepower at forward and center.
The 7-1, 220-pound Dereck Lively arrives with the highest of expectations for a major impact. He’s the No. 1 player nationally in the incoming recruiting class.
He’ll be paired with 6-11, 230-pound freshman Kyle Filipowski, another five-star recruit rated among the top 10 recruits in his class.
Both players run the court well while also thriving in half-court sets.
In addition, Duke added 6-10 center Ryan Young through the transfer portal from Northwestern. A starter off and on during his career there, Young brings experience needed to compliment the talented freshmen.
A third freshman big man, 7-1 Christian Reeves, looks more like a contributor in future seasons. But, again, he gives Duke serious depth in the post.
Mark Mitchell, a 6-8, 205-pound forward from Wichita, Kansas, joins Lively, Filipowski and Whitehead as five-star players joining Duke this season. He’ll need to spend the summer getting stronger to handle college basketball’s rigors, but his game could allow him to contribute as a freshman.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 12:07 PM.