Duke basketball gets answer on next season from veteran guard Caleb Foster

Duke’s basketball roster for the 2026-27 season is coming into sharper focus.

Guard Caleb Foster will return for his senior season, the program announced Wednesday on social media.

In a post that showed Foster letting out a celebratory scream and said “back,” Foster said, “I know there’s no better place to keep working, to keep growing and keep pursuing my dreams than right here at Duke. Let’s make it legendary.”

In the past week, the Blue Davis have had guard Cayden Boozer and center Pat Ngongba announce they would return to Duke for another season. The program has added guard John Blackwell from Wisconsin and forward Drew Scharnowski from Belmont in the NCAA transfer portal.

The Blue Devils have yet to announce the intentions of forwards Isaiah Evans and Dame Sarr. Both are said to be considering a move to pro basketball — the deadline for entering the NBA draft is Friday.

Foster brought experience and toughness to the Duke lineup this past season as the Blue Devils went 35-3 and were the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He suffered a fracture in his right foot in the final regular-season game, against North Carolina, had surgery and returned during the NCAAs to play against St. John’s and Connecticut.

“There’s no analytics., no stats that can measure how big this dude’s heart is,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after Foster played 19 minutes in the St. John’s game and scored 11 points.

Foster averaged 8.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists a game, scoring a season-high 20 points in Duke’s road win at Louisville in early January -- Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey called the 6-5 guard a “game-changer.”

Foster’s return will make for interesting competition in the backcourt. Boozer played well as a freshman with Foster sidelined, and incoming freshman Deron Rippey Jr. is rated as the nation’s top prep point guard.

The Blue Devils have had two players — forward Nikolas Khamenia (UConn) and guard Darren Harris (Indiana) — transfer from the program since the season ended with an NCAA loss to the Huskies.

This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 4:00 PM.

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

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In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.