Duke basketball: Updated look at next season’s growing roster

No matter what, the next Duke basketball team is stacked.

The 2022-23 Duke basketball roster construction is likely not quite complete. But after a relatively busy week of work in the transfer portal, the staff in Durham seems to have successfully put together more than 90 percent of next season’s pieces.

ALSO READ: Blue Devils land another experienced transfer

Perhaps only one addition to that group remains. It may hinge on Trevor Keels, who declared for the NBA Draft last week yet without closing the door on a return to Duke (he has until June 1 to withdraw his name). One would think he either comes back as a sophomore or first-year head coach Jon Scheyer replaces him via a transfer at the two-spot with starter potential.

Duke basketball roster outlook without Trevor Keels

For the sake of simplicity here, let’s assume neither Trevor Keels nor another transfer is in the cards and that Duke calls it a day with what it has already compiled. Should that be, the roster would contain 11 scholarship players (not counting Keenan Worthington, who earned a scholarship but originally arrived as a walk-on).

Of those 11, only three are returning Blue Devils:

• Sophomore point guard Jaylen Blakes
• Junior point guard Jeremy Roach
• Fifth-year small forward Joey Baker

Again, assuming no further additions, they will be alongside eight newcomers.

Two of those eight are the committed transfers:

• Graduate small forward Kale Catchings (from Harvard; one year of eligibility remaining)
• Graduate center Ryan Young (from Northwestern; two years of eligibility remaining)

Then there are the six rookies by way of the nation’s top-ranked incoming recruiting class:

• Four-star shooting guard Jaden Schutt
• Five-star small forward Dariq Whitehead
• Five-star small forward Mark Mitchell
• Five-star power forward Kyle Filipowski
• Five-star center Dereck Lively II
• Three-star center Christian Reeves

Now that the Blue Devils have landed a quality reserve big man (Young), the expectation is Reeves will redshirt next season while preparing his frame and game for more meaningful contributions in 2023-24 and beyond.

Meanwhile, if senior power forward Keenan Worthington returns — scholarship or not — he will probably once again see a walk-on role at the end of the bench alongside sophomore center Stanley Borden and junior point guard Spencer Hubbard.

So there you have it: next season’s 14-deep Blue Devil roster (again, subject to growth).

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball roster news and views.