Duke basketball: Envisioning next season’s starting lineup
By Matt Giles
The first Duke basketball starters under Jon Scheyer should be a fun bunch.
Most Duke basketball rosters contain more than five worthy starters. And that should again be the case. While question marks remain, there’s ample information for an educated stab at which quintet Jon Scheyer will employ when the 2022-23 season begins.
First, let’s look at players from last season who are either likely or certain to bounce (no projected draft picks from Duke have announced plans yet):
- Theo John
- Bates Jones
- Paolo Banchero
- AJ Griffin
- Mark Williams
- Wendell Moore Jr.
That’d be a long list of significant outgoing contributors, including 80 percent of what was the final starting five with Mike Krzyzewski calling the shots. Plus, the list of pro-bound Blue Devils could be a name or two longer than that.
Fret not, though, for the program welcomes the nation’s top-ranked 2022 class, consisting of Jaden Schutt, Dariq Whitehead, Mark Mitchell, Kyle Filipowski, Christian Reeves, and Dereck Lively II. Those newcomers should join most, if not all, of the following projected returning scholarship talents (thus far, only the first on this list has announced plans to stick around):
- Joey Baker
- Jeremy Roach
- Trevor Keels
- Jaylen Blakes
Furthermore, the staff is eyeing a few experienced big men and guards in the transfer portal, although none have yet received an offer from the Blue Devils. But barring multiple members of the above quartet skipping town, it’s doubtful transfers would receive an immediate starting nod.
On that note, here are the projected 2022-23 starters…