There has been little activity for Duke basketball's key players throughout this offseason, with most of the rotation having yet to announce whether they will return, enter the transfer portal, or head to the NBA Draft.
Blue Devil star rookie guard Kon Knueppel announced yesterday that he would be headed to the NBA Draft, but now the Blue Devils have gotten their first key player back, as Caleb Foster has announced he will return to Duke for the 2025-26 season.
Breaking: Caleb Foster has announced he will be RETURNING to Duke‼️ pic.twitter.com/zmfr9tOVRq
— Blue Devils (@BlueDevils) April 17, 2025
"What's up Duke fans, it's C-Fos [Caleb Foster] here. As I mentioned before on previous podcasts that growing up it's always been a dream of mine, chasing championships here at Duke. That has not changed at all and I'm excited to announce that I'll be coming back for my junior year to keep going and keep pursuing to get that national championship number six," Foster said when announcing his return on The Brotherhood Podcast.
This is huge news for Blue Devil basketball as the program will now have an experienced vet back in the backcourt for a squad that is losing most of its guard pieces from last season. Sion James is out of eligibility, Tyrese Proctor is likely headed to the NBA Draft, and Isaiah Evans has an intriguing decision to make regarding coming back to Durham, declaring for the 2025 NBA Draft, or hitting the transfer portal.
Foster came into his sophomore season for Duke in 2024-25 deemed as a top breakout candidate around college basketball, but that never really came into fruition. Foster began the season as a starter, but was eventually sent to the bench in favor of James and almost fizzled out of the rotation completely for a good part of the second half of the regular season.
The sophomore showed phenomenal maturity after seeing his minutes decrease in a season where he was supposed to break out onto the college basketball scene, and eventually found his way back into the rotation in the postseason.
Through Duke's five NCAA Tournament games, Foster averaged 4.6 points and two assists, playing double-digit minutes in four of those games. He wasn't filling up the box score, but was an instant spark of energy for the Blue Devils on both sides of the floor when he was put in.
In Duke's crushing Final Four loss to Houston, it was to the shock of many Duke fans that Foster didn't see the court at all in the second half after playing 13 minutes in the first, tallying four rebounds and an assist in that span.
Regardless, Foster will now have a second chance to revive his breakout candidacy and be a key contributor for a Blue Devil squad with championship aspirations next season. Despite any moves Jon Scheyer will make in the portal, Foster will almost definitely be Duke's starting point guard next season.