Duke has now lost its second player to the Transfer Portal.
One day after sophomore guard Darren Harris elected to enter the portal, promising freshman wing Nikolas Khamenia, a 5-star recruit in the 2025 recruiting class, will join him:
NEWS: Duke's Nik Khamenia will enter the transfer portal, his agency, Excel Sports, told DraftExpress.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 8, 2026
The 6'8 wing was a top-15 recruit in the class of 2025 and a key rotation player this season, averaging 5.7 points in 20 minutes. Will have a huge line of P5 suitors. pic.twitter.com/ZgNfJkni0o
Former 5-star Nikolas Khamenia leaving Duke via the Transfer Portal
While Harris wasn't much of a shock, Khamenia's decision to leave is. The former elite recruit had a clear role in Duke's rotation as a freshman, averaging 19.8 minutes per game and seeing action in all 38 games this year.
The 6-foot-8 wing showed plenty of promise in his first season, averaging 5.7 points per game on 44/34/67 shooting splits.
Khamenia's departure stings because he had a clear role for Duke going forward, and further development could turn him into one of the better 3-and-D wings in college basketball.
Perhaps it'll turn out to be good news, however. With Duke hot on the trail for Wisconsin's John Blackwell, there could be more of a limited role lined up for Khamenia next year than originally thought. That's especially true if Jon Scheyer can convince both Isaiah Evans and Dame Sarr to return to Durham.
Sarr seems likely to stay in school for another year, while Evans, a projected late first-round pick, remains undecided on his future. Sarr's return would lessen the sting. Evans coming back would make Khamenia leaving barely noteworthy. Adding Blackwell in the portal would make it irrelevant.
Scheyer has hinted at some philosophical changes to roster-building this offseason, and Khamenia's decision to move on could be a byproduct of that. Duke needs to get older if it wants to win a national championship. Freshmen-laden rosters aren't winning it all in this era of college basketball, and the Blue Devils' collapses in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments can easily be blamed on inexperience.
Khamenia will likely have a lot of suitors in the portal. He projects to be a good player down the line, but Scheyer should be able to replace him with a better player in the portal, at least as far as next season is concerned.