The Duke Blue Devils earned the 1-seed in the East region of the NCAA Tournament and will face off against the winner of the 16-seed First Four game between American and Mount St. Mary's in the Round of 64. However, the Blue Devils have a chance to face off against the program's former star guard in the Round of 32 if both programs win their Round of 64 matchups.
Jeremy Roach played four years at Duke before transferring to Baylor for his fifth year of college basketball. It was a bit of a surprise to see Roach leave Durham for his final year of college eligibility, but now Roach has a chance to be an opponent against the team he spent the majority of his college career on.
Roach was a part of Duke teams that went to the Final Four in 2022 and the Elite Eight in 2024. The veteran led the Blue Devil backcourt as a full-time starter for almost the entirety of his career.
Across his four seasons with the Blue Devils, Roach started 126 games for Duke under Mike Krzyzewski and Jon Scheyer, averaging 14 points per game on 46.8% shooting from the floor and 42.9% shooting from three-point range in his senior season with the Duke program.
He joined a loaded Bears transfer class this offseason and Baylor was considered a national title contender in the preseason, ranked #8 in the preseason Associated Press Poll. However, it's been a very disappointing season for Scott Drew's club and Baylor just barely sneaked into the NCAA Tournament field.
The Bears finished the regular season 19-14 overall and 10-10 in Big 12 play, falling 76-74 in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals to Texas Tech.
Roach is averaging 10.3 points and 2.7 assists on 38.1% shooting from the field and 34.5% shooting from beyond the perimeter in his lone season with Baylor, fairly sizable drops from his final campaign with the Blue Devils.
Baylor earned a 9-seed in the big dance and will face off against 8-seed Mississippi State in the Round of 64. If both Baylor and Duke can win their respective first round games, Roach will have a chance to play against the team he spent so much time with and had so much success with for his first four years of college basketball.
The Bears won three of their final five games of the regular season including the Big 12 Tournament. Coming out of the Big 12, Baylor would be a fun matchup for Duke, and Roach would be aside Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster, his former backcourt partners.