The Duke basketball program already has a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule to deal with through the 2025-26 regular season, and now it will prepare for the monster slate with an elite exhibition matchup against Tennessee.
Per On3 writer Grant Ramey, the Vols will host the Blue Devils in an exhibition match at Food City Center in Knoxville, TN.
Was told Tennessee Basketball is working to finalize a preseason exhibition game at Michigan in October
— @GrantRamey (@GrantRamey) July 16, 2025
... and will also host Duke in a second preseason exhibition game at Food City Center.
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🔗https://t.co/QdVWHab03r pic.twitter.com/11GCY0w9K0
This is a phenomenal opportunity for Jon Scheyer's club to prepare for such a difficult regular season, especially with the extremely young squad in Durham in 2025-26. The Duke rookies won't have any time to adjust to the college game before the daunting non-con slate kicks off, as the Blue Devils are set to face off against Texas to open their season in the inaugural Dickie V Classic.
Having an opportunity to face an elite high-major club before the season gets going, even if it's just one contest, will pay dividends for the Blue Devils in the long run, given how inexperienced this group is.
The Volunteers come in at No. 23 in ESPN's latest preseason top 25 rankings, headlined by incoming five-star freshman Nate Ament. Duke is at No. 12.
Ament was linked to Duke for a majority of his recruitment, especially after four-star recruit Shelton Henderson originally committed to Durham, as the two are good friends. The Blue Devils were seen as the favorite for months, but that connection fizzled out ahead of Ament's commitment. Henderson eventually decommitted from Duke to follow Jai Lucas to Miami, and Ament ultimately elected to head to the SEC.
The Blue Devils still boast the No. 1 overall 2025 recruiting class, headlined by five-star forward Cameron Boozer, who some view as the best rookie coming into college basketball next season. AJ Dybantsa of BYU, Darryn Peterson of Kansas, and Boozer are seen as the next "big three" of college hoops rookies.
Aside from the star forward, Duke is bringing in five-star recruits Nik Khamenia and Dame Sarr, who was a late addition that Scheyer decided to go after once it became clear Cedric Coward would remain in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Nonetheless, this group is still extremely young, and much of the offensive potential of this team will rely on how the freshmen produce. Getting a marquee exhibition matchup to give the freshmen a feel for the college game before Duke begins the regular season is a huge boost for Scheyer and his staff.