We are just five days away from the start of the Duke basketball regular season. The Blue Devils get started on Monday at home against Army to kick off the 2026-27 campaign, Jon Scheyer's fifth season on the bench in Durham.
Duke played a three-game exhibition schedule, routing both Belmont and Tennessee before getting a legitimate fight from Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon, but the Blue Devils ultimately prevailed.
Those three exhibition games were extra data points that help in making a projection of what the Duke lineup might look like this season. With that in mind, let's make one final starting lineup and rotation projection heading into the regular season.
Duke's projected starting backcourt:
Starters: Cayden Boozer, John Blackwell
Rotation: Caleb Foster, Deron Rippey Jr.
Bench Depth: Bryson Howard
The only change from the projection last month is that I now think, at least to open the season, sophomore Cayden Boozer is going to start over senior Caleb Foster. That might only last while Foster is getting back up to full strength after missing some time in the preseason with an injury. Or maybe it's permanent.
It's hard to ignore how good Boozer looked running the point during the exhibition schedule. In any case, they both will play significant minutes.
Regardless of who starts at the point, they'll be next to Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell, who looked as advertised in the preseason.
Freshman Deron Rippey Jr. is going to have a role, too, but just how big of one remains to be seen. He saw a significant reduction in minutes against Kansas with Foster back in the fold.
Bryson Howard projects as the 10th man for Duke when the Blue Devils are full strength. He'll find some minutes here and there, but he may struggle to find consistent playing time.
Duke's projected starting wing:
Starter: Dame Sarr
Rotation: Sebastian Wilkins
Dame Sarr will start at the three, and the sophomore appears to have taken a significant step forward with his offensive game in year two. He's still a menacing defender, but he's added to his offensive bag and should be in line for a big season.
After taking a redshirt last year, Sebastian Wilkins looks poised for a rotational spot in the Duke lineup. He was one of the first players off the bench in all three exhibition matchups. He's going to play a lot.
Duke's projected starting frontcourt:
Starters: Patrick Ngongba II, Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje
Rotation: Drew Scharnowski
Bench Depth: Cameron Williams, Maxime Meyer
Duke has an imposing frontcourt led by projected starters Patrick Ngongba and Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje. Ngongba was a dominating force against Kansas, putting up 28 points and 10 rebounds against the Jayhawks. JBB struggled against Kansas, but looked outstanding against both Belmont and Tennessee.
Drew Scharnowski should be back for the opener, and he could factor into the starting frontcourt, particularly if Boumtje Boumtje isn't quite ready for the spotlight. Regardless, there will be plenty of minutes for both guys.
It's tough to project a role for 5-star freshman Cameron Williams at this point. He was one of the last guys off the bench in the exhibitions and barely played against Kansas. He's still working his way back from an illness and is more raw than the other freshmen.
As things stand, Williams projects as the No. 11 guy in the rotation. There will be nights he finds minutes, but otherwise they might be tough to come by.
Fellow freshman Maxime Meyer will be the emergency backup big this year. He'll play if there's foul trouble or injuries, but he's a developmental prospect whose best basketball is ahead of him.
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