Sebastian Wilkins was a late addition to Duke's roster for 2025-26. He committed to the Blue Devils in May of 2025, initially as a 2026 recruit, but decided to reclassify into the 2025 class and enroll in Durham a year early.
Last year was ultimately a redshirt season for the talented wing who was the No. 35 overall player in his class. Spending a year on the bench, in this era of college basketball, had many questioning whether Wilkins would move on and look for an opportunity with more playing time promised in the Transfer Portal.
Because the path to a bigger role at Duke in year two was far from certain. Even with Nikolas Khamenia and Darren Harris entering the Transfer Portal and moving on to clear out some minutes on the wing, Duke was still bringing in one of the top recruiting classes in the nation while adding a pair of impactful transfers in John Blackwell and Drew Scharnowski.
But Wilkins bet on himself. He didn't waver from his commitment to Duke or his belief in Jon Scheyer's vision for him. And it appears set to pay off for him and Duke in a major way.
“He was incredibly secure,” Scheyer said about Wilkins' approach to the offseason, via The Devils Den. “He wasn’t asking about other guys. He wasn’t asking, well, what about him? Very easily he could have looked at our roster and said, well, how am I going to find a way to play, or can you promise me this, or what’s my role going to be? He just was all about, like, coach, you believe in me? Yes. I’m coming back. Whatever I can do, just let me know, whatever role I can play. So I think that attitude made a big difference.”
Sebastian Wilkins is poised for a significant role for Duke in his second season
Any question about Wilkins' spot in Duke's rotation was answered during the three exhibition games. He was one of the first players off the bench for the Blue Devils in each, averaging 21 minutes per game. He averaged 9 points and 5 rebounds across the three contests, shooting over 50% from the floor.
He showed his savviness as a cutter to get easy baskets at the rim. He also did the dirty work, fighting for rebounds and loose balls. His defensive versatility was obvious, too, with his size, speed, and length at 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds.
Wilkins will be Dame Sarr's primary backup on the wing, but he can easily slide up and log minutes at the four spot, too.
He's going to be a versatile chess piece off the bench for Scheyer to utilize. He's going to log significant minutes, and his development over the offseason was quietly one of the most important storylines for Duke that went largely unnoticed.
Wilkins appears to have enthusiastically accepted his role for the Blue Devils. Duke is going to need him, and the redshirt freshman appears ready to deliver.
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