Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer put together arguably one of the best recruiting classes of all time in 2024. It was the #1 class in the nation, featured four 5-star recruits, and another two 4-star recruits but both in the top 40 nationally of their class.
The two 4-stars that came in, in Patrick Ngongba II and Darren Harris, haven't seen the floor much during their freshmen campaigns. But, all four 5-stars have been seeing minutes pretty consistently throughout the season, and three of them are projected lottery picks in this recent NBA mock draft by Sports Illustrated.
Let's breakdown each of the three Blue Devil star freshmen and where their projected landing spots are here.
1. Cooper Flagg
The Blue Devil recruiting class is headlined by #1 prospect Cooper Flagg. The freshman phenom has been one of the most dominant players in college basketball and is a candidate for the National Player of the Year award averaging 15.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.5 steals on 42.9% shooting from the field. He's also leading Duke in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks per game. Coming into his freshman season at the collegiate level, it was no secret he was the favorite to be the #1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He was selected as a Preseason First Team All-American as a 17-year old. Although, some of the other top freshmen in this class have been putting a little bit of pressure on Flagg to continue to perform to lock up the top selection, such as Rutgers' Dylan Harper or BYU's Egor Demin. No shocks here though, Flagg has been the projected top pick for a while and will probably stay that way.
9. Kon Knueppel
Kon Knueppel sky-rocketed up draft boards through the offseason and Duke's exhibition games with his elite shooting ability. Through the early part of the season, Knueppel looked like one of the best shooters in the country with his ability to curl or roll into a catch-and-shoot and hit it at will. He has struggled a bit with inconsistency throughout the season in terms of his shooting, but his stock remains high. Where Duke's been missing his production is against ranked teams. Against unranked teams this season, Knueppel has shot 16-of-35 from three point range (45.7%). But in the Blue Devils's four ranked matchups so far this season, he shot at just a 6-of-32 (18.7%) clip. Even with that, his limitless potential is still there. And Knueppel isn't just a shooter at 6' 7" 217-pounds. He's an elite defender, can pass and create looks for his teammates, and just makes winning plays with the little things he does. He'll be an intriguing prospect to watch as a 3-and-D wing with great passing ability at the NBA level.
14. Khaman Maluach
Khaman Maluach, a 7' 2" 250-pound center from South Sudan, would probably be higher in mock drafts if he was a little more polished as a prospect overall. He's extremely raw but has shown an outstanding ability to defend the paint. In Duke's home victory against #2 Auburn, he held National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome to just 5 points in the first half along with the help of Maliq Brown. Brown and Maluach have split minutes but also seen the court together at times, but Brown is certainly more of a high-level defender at the moment. Maluach has great shot-blocking instincts and can run the floor in the fast break better than most 7-footers in the country. Similar to the other two Blue Devil freshmen in the projected lottery here, he's young and will take a lot of development, but his all-around potential as a prospect has him in the lottery. Maluach works in the pick-and-roll well and has really nice touch around the rim too. As the season goes and and Maluach continues to develop in college, he could be a big riser on draft boards come the second half of the college basketball season.
Duke's lone 5-star that isn't in the lottery, Isaiah Evans, currently sits as the projected #56 pick in this mock. He didn't play right away unlike the other three, not seeing minutes in Duke's losses versus #5 Kentucky or #10 Kansas. But, he saw significant minutes in a high-major game for the first time against #2 Auburn and proved why he was such a highly touted recruit. In the first half alone, Evans hit 6 threes on 8 attempts to give the Blue Devils the offensive spark they needed to jump ahead. He might be the best pure shooter on this Duke team and should rise up draft boards as his minutes increase throughout the season.
This top-ranked class for Duke has proven to be a legit unit at the collegiate level and should continue to stay atop draft boards as they get better throughout the season.