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For the second consecutive season, Duke basketball came into the NCAA Tournament as arguably the favorites to win the national championship as a No. 1 seed. The Blue Devils rolled to an ACC title behind a future NBA star in Cameron Boozer, just like they did the year before with Cooper Flagg.
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Just like Duke got through the regular season and into March Madness in a similar fashion in each of the last two years, it was bounced in similar fashion as well. Flagg’s Duke team lost a late lead in the Final Four against Houston in 2025, while Boozer’s team looked to be headed to the national semifinal after taking a 19-point lead against UConn’s in the Elite Eight.
The Huskies stormed back and won on a 3-pointer by Braylon Mullins to go to the Final Four, and Duke went home empty-handed once again after another brutal loss from a winning position.
Now, Jon Scheyer is left once again to go back to the drawing board and build another championship-level roster for next season. Boozer and Isaiah Evans will both likely be gone, which leaves a massive scoring gap in the rotation. Now, it’s time for Duke to go out and get one of the best scorers in the portal to address its need.
Duke didn’t make any massive splashes in the transfer portal last season, instead relying on its internal growth of players like Evans and Patrick Ngbonga II to improve, along with its high school recruiting class to carry the load. That strategy worked out in each of the last two years, as Flagg and Boozer both won National Player of the Year honors after incredible seasons.
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Duke’s incoming freshman class next season is nothing to scoff at. Five-stars Cameron Williams, Deron Rippey Jr. and Bryson Howard should all be immediate contributors for Scheyer and company, but another scorer will be needed to get this team over the hump in the NCAA Tournament.
Duke can find that in the transfer portal in Wisconsin’s John Blackwell. Blackwell is one of the best players available this offseason, and Duke is one of the teams currently going after him. Blackwell would slot directly into the starting lineup and would have a chance to be an All-American on one of the best teams in the country.
Offensively, there’s nothing that Blackwell cannot do. He has good positional size at 6-foot-4 and can score from anywhere on the court, as well as becoming a very good playmaker during his three seasons at Wisconsin. In 2025-26, Blackwell became one of the best overall players in the country, averaging 19.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for the Badgers while shooting 43% from the field and 38.9% from the 3-point line.
Duke will be in need of guards, even with Cayden Boozer coming back to school. Blackwell would not only give the Blue Devils someone who can run the offense and create good looks for everyone else, but he would be a great option as someone who can get a basket in the half-court when the clock is winding down.
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Duke has some stiff competition in Blackwell’s recruitment, including teams like Illinois and Louisville, who has already had a huge offseason in the portal. However, Scheyer can sell him on coming to a program that has been very close to winning a national championship in each of the last two seasons. The Wisconsin transfer might just be the missing piece to get the Blue Devils over the top.
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