Duke's Freshman Class - A Player-by-Player Summary
After losing their entire starting lineup to the NBA Draft, Duke brings in the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation to fill that void
Despite losing their entire starting lineup to the NBA, Duke moves into the upcoming season as hopeful as ever regarding the state of their roster. Why? Because the program is ushering in the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation to fill the void left by last season’s departures. The Blue Devils bolster their already intriguing returning core with five top prospects, including three five-star recruits. That said, these incoming recruits will have drastically different roles this season, and they all project differently from a professional perspective. Much like last year’s class, we could see a handful selected in the lottery after their freshman campaign just as Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Khaman Maluach were. We may also see a few shelved as reserves, much like Darren Harris, Patrick Ngongba, and Isaiah Evans were last year. This dichotomy makes Duke’s freshman philosophy uniquely interesting and worth diving into year after year.
Cameron Boozer
6’9” | 235lbs | Power Forward | Christopher Columbus
High school phenom Cameron Boozer headlines Duke’s incoming class as the third ranked player in his graduating class and perhaps the most accomplished high school player of all time. The son of legendary Blue Devil and NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, he spent his high school career at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Florida. He led his team to four straight Florida state championships in addition to taking home the Chipotle Nationals title his senior year. He won three straight Nike EYBL titles throughout his AAU career, including one over eventual Duke Blue Devil and number one pick Cooper Flagg. Finally, he secured two gold medals while representing the USA in international competitions.
Boozer is an incredibly mature and well-rounded player who understands how to impact winning more than any other player in his class. He’s an incredibly strong power forward who scores from all three levels on one end and plays excellent all-around defense on the other. He’s an agile big capable of throwing down monster poster dunks while also being able to step out beyond the arc to knock down the three. He’s probably the best rebounder in his graduating class, and his passing is far better than we typically see from big men at his age. He proved to be a very good rim protector throughout his high school career but could be even better at Duke as he’ll be supported by a legitimate center in Pat Ngongba. Not only do I expect him to be the best player on Duke’s roster this season, but there’s a good chance he’s the most impactful player in the country by season’s end.
Photo Credits - Mark Rebilas/USA Today Sports
Nikolas Khamenia
6’8” | 210lbs | Small Forward | Harvard Westlake
Five-star recruit Nikolas Khamenia brings an interesting skillset to the table for Duke as one of the premier shooting prospects in his class. The consensus top 20 prospect and McDonald’s All-American, like Boozer, also has a storied international youth career in addition to his stateside success. He also has two gold medals under his belt, bringing experience to a Blue Devils team that is already chock-full of it. He looks to fill the void of talented role player Kon Knueppel, who impacted the game last season with impressive outside shooting and a well-rounded game founded on high-level basketball IQ, much like Khamenia.
Not only is Khamenia an excellent outside shooter, but he also possesses intriguing mid-range and post-up scoring games. His ability to put the ball on the floor does raise his overall scoring ceiling, but he’s not the quickest downhill driver and doesn’t possess standout vertical pop. He’s athletic enough to survive at Duke against upper echelon collegiate competition but will struggle from that perspective once he makes the professional leap. He has solid size for a small forward, and his skillset will allow him to spend some of his minutes playing the two, where he’ll be significantly larger than most of his matchups. His steady playstyle and positional versatility will give John Scheyer a ton of rotational options, something that will likely remain the case when Khamenia makes the NBA transition.
Photo Credits - Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun
Dame Sarr
6’8” | 190lbs | Shooting Guard/Forward | FC Barcelona
International prospect Dame Sarr was a late pickup for Scheyer and staff, as he was originally projected to head to Kansas before the Jayhawks prioritized a few other recruits ahead of him and he shifted his sights toward Duke. Sarr, like Khamenia, plays both the two and three and prides himself on his outside shooting talents. While his skillset is already polished enough for him to contribute for the Blue Devils, he’s still developing physically and athletically. Most evaluators currently consider him to be the second most intriguing professional prospect on the team behind Cam Boozer, but I’m not yet convinced that he’ll be one of the top 5 most impactful players for this team throughout next season.
Sarr is an off-ball scoring operative who consistently knocks down catch-and-shoot threes and serves as a play finisher around the rim. He has shown self-creation flashes from beyond the arc, but if he spends only one season in Durham before heading to the draft, I doubt we’ll see that element of his game come to fruition while he’s wearing a Blue Devil uniform. The issue regarding Sarr, specifically his fit with Duke, is that he’s likely not as prepared to contribute as Isaiah Evans, Darren Harris, or even Nikolas Khamenia despite playing the same position(s). Sarr is currently more enticing to NBA front offices than those three players, and if he were to play behind all three, he may see his stock fall. I highly doubt he’d stick around for a sophomore season like Evans and Harris did, so perhaps Khamenia takes the back seat. No matter what, it seems like tough decisions are ahead for Scheyer and his staff.
Photo Credits - via Twitter (X)
Cayden Boozer
6’4” | 205lbs | Point Guard | Christopher Columbus
Cayden Boozer joins his brother Cameron next season after spending their entire prep career together at Christopher Columbus High School. Like his brother, Cayden was a McDonald’s All-American with the same extensive list of high school accolades. Cayden, a four-star and consensus top 25 recruit, brings a unique set of skills to the Duke program, as he’ll be the only traditional point guard on the team next season. The pass-first floor general was the perfect partner for his brother, as the duo played a dynamic two-man game throughout the entirety of their prep careers. Now he moves into a role with Duke that will likely demand a similar style of play, but now he’s surrounded by elite talent on all sides and at all times.
Beyond his pro-ready passing, Cayden is a solid three-level scorer. He was perhaps the most effective fast break operative in the country this year, giving Scheyer and company the option of playing faster than we typically see from the program. He’s a good outside shooter, but where he truly shines as a self-creator is from the mid-range. He’s not much of an athlete, so his interior scoring falters from time-to-time, but he usually makes up for his athletic disadvantages with his elite feel for the game. His understanding of the game and ability to use it to his advantage is second-to-none, and I expect that to immediately translate to college competition. That said, he’ll likely start the season coming off the bench behind upperclassman guard Caleb Foster, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds himself in the starting lineup by the end of the year.
Photo Credits - via MaxPreps
Sebastian Wilkins
6’8” | 215lbs | Forward | Brewster Academy
Four-star Sebastian Wilkins is the resident under the radar recruit for this Duke freshman class, but he belongs to an archetype that has been known to find success at every level. Despite not having the illustrious prep career that some of his soon-to-be teammates had, Wilkins was the best player on a Brewster Academy team that was among the best high school programs in the nation this year. The 3&D wing was a consensus top 50 prospect in his graduating class, with ESPN having him ranked as highly as 25th in the nation. He joins Duke as a developmental project with a simple game and a promising physical profile who projects to spend multiple years with the program.
Wilkins is a well-built forward who will likely hang his hat on the defensive end throughout his first year of college. A positionally versatile defender, he’s strong enough to stand his ground against bigger opponents and agile enough to matchup against smaller ones. He’s a very good rebounder for his position, which in addition to his defensive playmaking, allowed him to find a ton of transition success throughout his high school career. His offensive game is simple, relying on catch-and-shoot outside shooting and off-ball play finishing. He doesn’t require much usage and can complement just about any lineup. I don’t expect him to play a ton this season, but his defensive abilities and positional versatility may come in handy on occasion. That said, there’s a world where Wilkins is the most important recruit in this class from a college-success perspective, as he could become an incredibly impactful player for multiple seasons, instead of heading to the draft early like the others covered in this article.
Photo Credits - Tyler Hart
I’m of the opinion that Duke definitely deserves to be ranked ahead of the rest when it comes to incoming freshman classes. Cameron Boozer will probably be selected in the top three of next year’s draft, and there’s a world where Khamenia, Sarr, and Cayden join him in the lottery. I think both Boozers and Khamenia have obvious roles on this year’s team, while Sarr and Wilkins could be important contributors off the bench. Even though this group doesn’t have a Cooper Flagg, one could argue that this freshman class is more likely to make immediate contributions than even last year’s was coming into the year. When you combine that outlook with Duke’s already competitive returning core, we could be talking about a national championship winning team at this time next year.