The Duke basketball team is not going to have a major influx of new players like they did last offseason but there will still be impactful additions to the Blue Devils as Jon Scheyer tries to complement his returnees.
Washington State transfer Cedric Coward was the first player commit to the program this offseason after picking Duke over Alabama but remains as early entry in the 2025 NBA Draft as he receives feedback from teams on what he needs to improve to get drafted.
All indications are that he will play for the Blue Devils next season instead of remaining in the draft.
Still, there are open spots for Duke to add talent this offseason and three prospects have been linked to the team: 2025 high school prospect Braydon Hawthorne, 2026 prospect Sebastian Wilkins, and international prospect Dame Sarr.
The Blue Devils initially reached out to Wilkins in the aftermath of Shelton Henderson, a 5-star signee, requesting his release from his National Letter of Intent and following former Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas to Miami.
Wilkins is expected to reclassify into 2025 and there are tentative plans for him to visit Duke in May but the coaching staff could be looking elsewhere to fill the void on its roster.
The same could be said for Dame Sarr, a 6-foot-8 wing and native for Italy, who has everything available to him at the moment.
Sarr left his club, FC Barcelona, and is eligible for the 2025 NBA Draft but his name did not appear on the early entries list that was published by the NBA on Tuesday, meaning he will likely play college basketball next season.
Duke had been connected with Sarr in mid-April, but things have since cooled off and it would be a major surprise if he landed in Durham.
The prospect that is generating the most buzz from the Blue Devils right now is Braydon Hawthorne, a decommit from West Virginia after the coaching change that sent Darian DeVries to Indiana.
Hawthorne soared up the recruiting rankings over the last year, going from an unranked prospect to a consensus 4-star player and will be visiting Duke this weekend.
The 6-foot-8 forward could serve as a key rotational piece behind a talented frontcourt that will consist of Cameron Boozer, Patrick Ngongba, and Maliq Brown. If any of the three players mentioned commits to Duke, Hawthorne is the most likely at this time.