#6 Duke Blue Devils (0-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. UCF Knights (0-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Exhibition Game • Tuesday, Oct. 21 • 7 p.m. ET
Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) • Durham, N.C.
Radio: Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Duke All-Americans Jon Scheyer and Johnny Dawkins will face off as head coaches Tuesday when the Blue Devils host UCF in the Brotherhood Run exhibition game – Dawkins’ first trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium since 2008, when he was an associate head coach. Dawkins, a 1996 Duke Athletics Hall of Fame inductee whose number 24 jersey was retired by Duke on Feb. 22, 1986, became the Blue Devils’ all-time leading scorer with 2,556 points during his standout career from 1982 to 1986, a record that held for two decades. As a senior team captain in 1986, Dawkins was named the National Player of the Year after averaging 20.2 points per game and guiding the Blue Devils to a then-NCAA record 37 wins. That historic season included ACC regular season and tournament championships, and the NCAA East Regional crown, culminating in a national title game appearance. The lone hardwood meeting between Duke and UCF was in 2019, when Dawkins guided UCF to its first NCAA Tournament win, setting up a second-round matchup against his alma mater in Columbia, South Carolina, a 77-76 Duke victory.
Broadcast Information
TV/Video Stream ACCNX
Play-by-Play Chris Edwards
Analyst Debbie Taylor
Producer Will Black
Director Blake Woodard
Radio Blue Devil Sports Net.
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
The Coaches
Duke Jon Scheyer (Duke ’10)
Career Record / at Duke 89-22 (4th) / same
vs. UCF 0-0
UCF Johnny Dawkins (Duke ’86)
Career Record / at School 324-325 (18th) / 168-120 (10th)
vs. Duke 0-1
UCF Knights
UCF is coming off a season that saw them post a 20-17 record. They posted wins against Villanova, Texas Tech and Texas A&M last season and in the post season went down to Nebraska in the finals of the College Basketball Crown tournament. The Knights lost nearly their entire roster from last season and the 2025-26 version of the Knights consists of 14 newcomers and just one returner (Poohpha Warakulnukroh), who did not score last season, as UCF lost 100% of its scoring from last year.
Among the new additions to Johnny Dawkins team are Devan Cambridge, who is suiting up for his seventh season of college basketball, having played in 140 games at Auburn, Arizona State and Texas Tech before joining UCF. Milwaukee transfer Jamichael Stillwell (6-8, 245) became the first player in program history to average a double-double in a season with 13.0 points and a school record 10.7 rebounds per game in 2024-25.
Duke Blue Devils
The Blue Devils are coming off of a 35-4 season that saw them within a game of a title shot. Duke went 19-1 in conference, winning both the regular season and the ACC Tournament.
The Blue Devils welcome in a number 1 recruiting class after their Final Four run. Jon Scheyer after losing his entire starting lineup to the NBA but retaining core pieces with experience. Leading Duke are experienced returners senior big Maliq Brown and junior guard Caleb Foster, both instrumental pieces in Duke’s run this past season. Duke also returned 3 members from last season freshman class in hot shooting Isaiah Evans, who shot a team high 41.6%. Duke also brings back Darren Harris who has reshaped his body in hopes for a larger role and Patrick Ngongba who similarly has reshaped his frame, coming into this season healthy.
Duke’s freshman class includes the Boozer brothers, Cayden and Cameron, do-it-all forward Nik Khamenia and Italian import Dame Sarr. Duke also added reserves Jack Scott and Ifeanyi Ufochukwu, from Princeton and Rice, respectively.
Projected Starters
Duke Blue Devils
G Caleb Foster 6’4, 205lbs Jr.
G Isaiah Evans 6’6, 180lbs So.
G Dame Sarr 6’8, 190lbs Fr.
F Cameron Boozer 6’9, 250lbs Fr.
C Patrick Ngongba 6’11, 250lbs So.
UCF Knights
G Themus Folks 6’2, 185lbs Sr.
G Riley Kugel 6’5, 210lbs Sr.
G Kris Parker 6’9, 201lbs RSSo.
F Jordan Burks 6’9, 205lbs Jr.
C Jon Bol 7’2, 210lbs, So.
Final Thoughts
It’s hard to put an actual preview of two teams that have not played yet, but what stands out about UCF is that even though they have a completely revamped lineup, they have brought in guys with a lot of experience from high level programs. Riley Kugel arrives from Mississippi State where he averaged 9.3 points last season, Kris Parker from Villanova, as a freshman averaged 10 minutes a game, Carmelo Pacheco from Mount St. Mary’s averaged nearly double figure scoring last season and shot 46.4% from 3-point range, Devan Cambridge from Texas Tech is on his 7th year of eligibility and Jordan Burks from Georgetown averaged nearly 6 points per game. I expect this to be a very competitive matchup for a fairly young Blue Devils squad, this exhibition will be a very good measuring stick for Duke’s freshmen who will face their first action.
For Duke fans, the questions will abound with Duke losing the entirety of their starting lineup from this past season. The expectation is still that Duke will have a top level defense, but until it’s been seen it will still exist as a question mark. Offensively we see that Duke has a multitude of weapons but again, a lot of it has been in spurts – can they put it together and are they ready for prime time? Tonight will give us some early returns as to what this team needs to work on, and anyone expecting a finished product in October may be sorely disappointed – what we should see, hopefully at least, are some good bones.