The Duke basketball program is heading into the 2025-26 season with a completely new roster. After Jon Scheyer lost his entire starting five from last season's Final Four squad, new faces will make up much of the rotation for the Blue Devils this coming season. Some starting spots are already established. Cameron Boozer will be the four. Patrick Ngongba and Maliq Brown will make up the majority of the center minutes, in whichever order. The starting small forward battle has been a known clash between five-star freshmen Dame Sarr and Nik Khamenia, but a new positional battle is starting to heat up out of nowhere, and Duke fans need to start paying attention to it.
PG battle between Caleb Foster and Cayden Boozer beginning to heat up
Junior guard Caleb Foster is entering a make-or-break season with Duke after a fairly disappointing sophomore season. After entering the 2024-25 campaign as a starter, Foster was eventually sent to the bench in favor of Sion James, and was almost unplayable for the majority of the back half of the season. Now, he enters a role as a crucial veteran leader amongst a very young and inexperienced squad, but his job as starting point guard might not be as set in stone as many fans and insiders once anticipated.
Four-star rookie Cayden Boozer, twin brother of Cameron, has been potentially the biggest riser throughout the summer for the Blue Devils. Scheyer said that Boozer led the team in assists across the summer, and buzz is starting to go around that he could take over as the team's starter if Foster gets off to a slow start.
At 6'4, Boozer is a true point guard. He's got a very high basketball IQ and has great instincts as the lead man in an offense. He was also arguably the best passer in his high school class, tallying 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratios in EYBL and FIBA play.
Foster is ahead of Boozer on the defensive side of the ball, but Boozer's instincts as a true lead guard could give Foster a very short leash as the team's starter.
After flashing consistent outside shooting ability and passing prowess as a freshman, Foster took a major step back in almost every category. The junior has the potential to play starter minutes on a championship-caliber team, but with Duke's grueling non-conference slate this season, who knows how much leeway Scheyer will give Foster if he continues his mediocre play from 2024-25.
There are more questions for Scheyer to ask in addition to just switching Foster for Boozer, if that situation arose. If Boozer was implemented into the starting lineup, that would mean at least three freshmen would start and potentially four. In today's era of college hoops, that's a dangerous card to play.