The Transfer Portal is never going to be priority No. 1 for Jon Scheyer and Duke, even with how drastically the landscape of college basketball has changed in recent seasons. They won't ignore it, however, and Scheyer vowed to take a more aggressive portal approach this offseason.
Mission accomplished.
Duke is one of the biggest winners of the offseason in college basketball for more than just the portal. Scheyer has filled up his bingo card with success across the board.
Priority one for Duke is always high school recruiting, and the Blue Devils knocked it out of the park with a quartet of 5-star prospects: Cameron Williams, Deron Rippey Jr., Bryson Howard, and Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje.
Priority two for Duke was roster retention, and Scheyer was on top of that, too. Duke lost Cameron Boozer and Isaiah Evans to the draft and saw Darren Harris and Nikolas Khamenia exit via the portal. But the Blue Devils retained key pieces in Patrick Ngongba II, Dame Sarr, Cayden Boozer, and Caleb Foster.
And the third priority was the Transfer Portal. Duke crushed that, too.
In Jeff Borzello's Transfer Portal class rankings for ESPN released on Tuesday, he credited Duke with the No. 10 class.
Duke's Transfer Portal class ranked No. 10 by ESPN
The headliner of the class was obviously Wisconsin guard John Blackwell, who was one of the top overall players available this offseason. Duke needed perimeter scoring, particularly for a potential deep run in March, and they got it in Blackwell, who averaged 19 points per game and shot 39% from three as a junior in Madison.
But while Blackwell is the most publicized piece of the puzzle for Duke in the portal, Scheyer also landed a highly impactful two-way player for the frontcourt who could serve as a Maliq Brown replacement and provide quality depth behind Ngongba, something Duke had precious little of a season ago.
Belmont transfer Drew Scharnowski was the first portal pickup for Duke this offseason, and he'll bring his relentless effort on both ends of the floor with him to Durham. He's a blue-collar, throwback-type player who is going to do the little things that help Duke win games. He'll join a frontcourt that includes one of the nation's best centers in Ngongba and two of the top players in the 2026 recruiting class, regardless of position, in Williams and Boumtje Boumtje.
Duke also added veteran Loyola guard Jacob Theodosiou, who might not make a major impact on the court, but will in the locker room. He'll be a valuable practice player and is a guy capable of playing some minutes if his number is called.
Duke had some big pieces to replace, particularly in losing the National Player of the Year for the second offseason in a row. But while they might have to rebuild in Chapel Hill and other places, in Durham it's all about reloading. Scheyer did that, and it's a big reason why the Blue Devils will be in contention to be ranked preseason No. 1.
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