Duke basketball: Projected starters for Coach K’s farewell season
By Matt Giles
A Duke basketball offseason’s midpoint calls for a predicted starting five.
Admittedly, Ball Durham already projected the 2021-22 Duke basketball starting lineup back in April. Last we checked, though, no law regulates how many times Dukies may stare into space while pondering the next batch of starters. Besides, it’s the most guaranteed way for fans to “get their fix” anytime throughout a six-month offseason.
Keep in mind as well that so much in Durham has changed since April.
In early June, Mike Krzyzewski revealed that this season will be his last as a head coach. On the same day, he named current righthand man Jon Scheyer his successor-in-waiting.
Add to that the fact all of the players are now on campus and competing in scrimmages. And to aid Blue Devil junkies in partying to Duke thoughts, the program’s social media has been posting various highlights of the squad’s on-court action and off-court escapades.
So with all of the above in mind, just how much has changed when it comes to the projected starting five? Honestly, not much. That said, in light of the announced succession plans plus the accumulating footage of the fellas, there is one tweak here. In addition, as a bonus to this edition of starter predictions, we’ll wrap things up by forecasting the primary bench weapons.
Basically, this is a mid-offseason attempt at envisioning the main rotation. So let’s get started with a stab at identifying the starters, one at a time and beginning at point guard…