Duke made other elite programs turn their heads after what the Blue Devils did in the transfer portal. Jon Scheyer and his staff have received so much praise for bringing in John Blackwell, Drew Scharnowski, and Jacob Theodosiou to Durham this offseason. While Scharnowski and Theodosiou have big roles to play on this team, most of the focus has been on Blackwell's arrival, and rightfully so.
When prompted with men's transfer portal superlatives for ESPN.com, Jeff Borzello tabbed Duke as his pick for a "national title contender that improved its chances the most". He had the Blue Devils edging out Texas and St. John's for this honor. His ESPN colleague Myron Medcalf sided with the Red Storm in this article. Again, Borzello chose Duke in large part because Blackwell is the missing piece.
Borzello went on to explain in this blurb why Duke signing the best guard in the portal is so massive.
"As good as the Blue Devils were last season, they sometimes lacked a guard who could get his own shot on a consistent basis in the half court. Especially with Cameron Boozer gone, Scheyer desperately needed a go-to guy on the offensive end. All signs point to that player being Blackwell."
Cameron Boozer plays a different position than Blackwell, but he was the go-to scorer for the Blue Devils a year ago. Adding a player who averaged 19.1 points per game last season for Wisconsin changes the calculus a bit for this Duke offense. Blackwell will open up the floor more, as he is adept at creating his own shot from all areas of the court. He should make Duke so much harder to guard.
Duke has been a bit frontcourt-heavy of late, but a proven veteran guard can make all the difference.
John Blackwell's go-to scoring has Duke as a real national title contender
ESPN is not the first publication to express how big of a pickup Blackwell was for Duke. FOX Sports' Michael Cohen explained how Blackwell's skill set fits this Duke offense like hand in glove. Last year's Duke team was young and inexperienced at all levels. The addition of Blackwell to the starting lineup should make things easier for Cayden Boozer, Patrick Ngongba II, Dame Sarr, and the rest of the team.
Losing Cameron Boozer to the NBA Draft was totally expected. However, having his twin brother Cayden back for another season should allow him to grow and prosper playing alongside Blackwell. With Caleb Foster also returning, Duke may be a more balanced team ready to go on a title run. It will be up to Scheyer and his staff to figure out how to best allocate minutes for this national title hopeful.
What makes the addition of Blackwell so compelling is he got better every year he was at Wisconsin. He was somewhat unheralded coming out of high school. While he did make the most of his time playing for Greg Gard in Madison, Duke is built differently on the hardwood. With this being his last shot to cut down the nets before he exhausts his eligibility, look for Blackwell to make the most of it.
Right now, it is hard to see anyone else winning the ACC over Duke now that Blackwell is a Blue Devil.
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