Ideal Duke basketball roster entering 2021-22 season

The ideal Duke basketball roster entering the 2021-22 season.

Building a National Championship contender every season is the norm in Durham, North Carolina with the Duke basketball program, and things have not fallen its way in the 2020-21 campaign.

However, as the Blue Devils try and muster a lengthy winning streak to try and make the NCAA Tournament this season, many have turned their attention to next season and the possible loaded team Duke can put together.

In theory, every player on this year’s team could return next season for another chance to erase the memories of its struggles and get the full Duke experience, playing in front of sold-out crowds and in front of the Cameron Crazies.

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Given the oddities of the 2020-21 season, the NCAA has granted an extra year of eligibility for all players, meaning seniors who would normally be graduating this year can return to their schools for one more season.

The NCAA is also mulling a one-time transfer rule where players do not have to sit out a season after transferring.

This rule would become permanent going forward while the extra year of eligibility is only a one-time change that will not be implemented going forward.

Duke basketball continues to eye massive recruiting class

Mike Krzyzewski has already landed two players in the Class of 2021, Adrian Griffin Jr. and Paolo Banchero.

Both players are ranked inside the Top-10 recruits in the country, and three other uncommitted players, Patrick Baldwin Jr., Trevor Keels, and Charles Bediako, also hold offers from the Blue Devils.

Duke also has two seniors on its roster, Jordan Goldwire and Mike Buckmire, as well as one graduate transfer, Patrick Tape.

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Despite Buckmire being a walk-on, all three players have scholarships with the basketball program, and despite the NCAA allowing seniors to return next season, there have been no updates on whether or not the NCAA will expand the 13 scholarships programs are allotted each season.

A change in scholarship numbers seems unlikely, so it will be critical for each head coach and his staff to closely monitor their program’s allotment.

Given the history of Mike Krzyzewski and his management of the game and rotations off the bench, this slideshow is not a prediction as to who will be on the 2021-22 Blue Devils, rather an ideal compilation of scholarship players who could make up Duke’s roster next season.