After a Final Four exit, Jon Scheyer quickly retooled Duke’s roster. With Cameron Boozer joining returnees Isaiah Evans, Patrick Ngongba, and Maliq Brown, the Blue Devils look to blend star power and experience heading into the 2025-26 season.
Turning the page was something Jon Scheyer had to do almost immediately after last season. As soon as Duke’s late-game collapse against Houston ended a Final Four run, the third-year head coach pivoted from the sting of the moment to the realities of roster turnover. He knew his entire starting five was gone — with Cooper Flagg leading the parade to the NBA Draft — but the bigger swing factor was what happened with the rotation pieces: Isaiah Evans, Caleb Foster, Patrick Ngongba, and Darren Harris. Their decisions would shape Duke’s offseason plan, and Scheyer needed clarity fast.
“The moment of the Houston game, I couldn’t tell you where this thing was gonna go after that,” Scheyer told CBS’s Jon Rothstein on the Inside College Basketball Podcast. “In this day and age, I don’t know if it’s as appreciated as hopefully it will be, but what it means with some of our current players coming back, that’s where I wanna start.”
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Jon Scheyer Turns Page as Duke Builds Around Cam Boozer, Returning Core
After a Final Four exit, Jon Scheyer quickly retooled Duke’s roster. With Cameron Boozer joining returnees Isaiah Evans, Patrick Ngongba, and Maliq Brown, the Blue Devils look to blend star power and experience heading into the 2025-26 season.
John Watson
John Watson
Sep 29th, 10:38 AM
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Turning the page was something Jon Scheyer had to do almost immediately after last season. As soon as Duke’s late-game collapse against Houston ended a Final Four run, the third-year head coach pivoted from the sting of the moment to the realities of roster turnover. He knew his entire starting five was gone — with Cooper Flagg leading the parade to the NBA Draft — but the bigger swing factor was what happened with the rotation pieces: Isaiah Evans, Caleb Foster, Patrick Ngongba, and Darren Harris. Their decisions would shape Duke’s offseason plan, and Scheyer needed clarity fast.
“The moment of the Houston game, I couldn’t tell you where this thing was gonna go after that,” Scheyer told CBS’s Jon Rothstein on the Inside College Basketball Podcast. “In this day and age, I don’t know if it’s as appreciated as hopefully it will be, but what it means with some of our current players coming back, that’s where I wanna start.”
Eventually, all of those players elected to return, joined by ACC Defensive Player of the Year candidate Maliq Brown, who underwent offseason shoulder surgery. Brown’s expected return to full strength, paired with Ngongba, gives Scheyer a frontcourt tandem that complements and amplifies prized freshman Cameron Boozer. That pairing is a foundational building block for what Duke wants to be this season.
