The Duke basketball program released the latest edition of The Brotherhood Podcast this week. In addition to the show’s usual host, senior guard Caleb Foster, the “Summer Update” episode featured two other 2026-27 Blue Devils in junior center Patrick Ngongba II and freshman forward Cameron Williams.
And one of the first topics of discussion in their 25-minute sit-down chat centered on the projected “team identity” for what will be Jon Scheyer’s fifth Duke basketball squad as head coach.
“I mean, I feel like it’s kind of simple,” Foster, fresh off averaging a career-high 8.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game as a full-time starter for a 2025-26 Duke basketball team that finished 35-3 overall and reached the Elite Eight, noted to Williams and Ngongba.
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“Obviously, we want to be a defensive-first team and then just a team that plays hard and shares the ball and creates advantages”.
Williams, who arrived in Durham roughly two months ago as a five-star prospect ranking No. 4 overall and No. 1 among power forwards on the 247Sports 2026 Composite, chimed in by summarizing the group’s mentality as they work out together this summer in anticipation of what figures to be another successful campaign for the blue-blood program under Scheyer’s command.
“Just, like, be dogs,” the 7-foot, 215-pound Arizona native explained. “We’re gonna be dogs.”
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Patrick Ngongba II on Large Number of Towering Duke Basketball Talents
Earlier this week, Duke posted its official 2026-27 roster, including heights and weights of all the players. One obvious highlight of the roster, which contains an impressive mix of newcomers and returning players who altogether could force Scheyer to employ a double-digit regular rotation for the first time since he succeeded Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski as head coach in 2022, is the fact that there are five guys standing 6-foot-10 or taller.
“I feel like we’re a pretty big team,” the 6-foot-11, 250-pound Patrick Ngongba, who averaged a career-high 10.1 points and 5.8 boards last go-round and is now just the fourth-tallest 2026-27 Blue Devil behind Cameron Williams and two more rookies in 7-foot-1, 225-pound center Maxime Meyer and 7-foot-2, 250-pound forward/center Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, added when commenting on the team’s identity.
“So, I feel like we can use our size in the paint and whatnot, protecting the paint and finishing [down low].”
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As for the primary talking points from the coaching staff this summer, Ngongba pointed to communication on the court.
“I feel like [the primary talking point] has been talking because there’s a bunch of new guys on the team,” Ngongba said. “I feel like that’s been a big emphasis.
“And then, I would just say playing with each other – not taking too many dribbles and just keeping the ball moving.”
Duke basketball, appearing to be a lock to rank among the top 10 in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll for the 19th year in a row, tips off its 2026-27 regular season slate at home against the Army Black Knights on Nov. 2 (time to be announced).
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/duke as Duke Basketball Roster Boasts Massive Size Ahead of 2026-27.
