Duke basketball: Non-conference schedule begins to take shape

Duke basketball (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
Duke basketball (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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The 2020-21 non-conference schedule is already beginning to take shape for the Duke basketball program as an opponent is already locked into coming to Cameron Indoor Stadium.

As the 2019-20 college basketball season came to a premature end, the landscape of the sport shifts its attention to the 2020-21 season, and the first Duke basketball opponent coming to Cameron Indoor Stadium is officially confirmed.

On Monday morning, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported that the Blue Devils will host Appalachian State next season.

App State is out of the Sun Belt Conference and most recently had an 18-15 record, which ended in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Duke last played Appalachian State in 2016, in which the Blue Devils came out with a 93-58 victory.

As a program, which dates back to 1973, the first time these two teams met, Duke is 8-1 all-time against Appalachian State. The lone win over the Blue Devils for the Mountaineers came in its second-ever matchup in 1981, with a 75-70 win.

Duke is also slotted to play Michigan State to open the 2020-21 season in the State Farm Champions Classic, which will take place in the United Center in Chicago this next season, as the Blue Devils are a perfect 3-0 against the Spartans in the event.

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The Blue Devils will also be taking part in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis around Thanksgiving week. The tournament will also include Creighton, Memphis, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Utah, West Virginia, and Wichita State.

Duke won the Battle 4 Atlantis in its only time in the events, back in the 2012 season with a win over No. 2 Louisville in the Championship Game.

ALSO READ: Tre Jones officially declares for 2020 NBA Draft

Despite losing ACC Player of the Year Tre Jones to the NBA, and potentially more players, Mike Krzyzewski brings in a loaded six-man Duke basketball recruiting class of Jalen JohnsonJeremy RoachDJ StewardMark WilliamsJaemyn Brakefield, and Henry Coleman.