After missing out to Notre Dame on combo guard JJ Starling, what’s next for the Duke Blue Devils on the recruiting trail? After reeling in high value targets Dariq Whitehead, Kyle Filipowski, Dereck Lively and Jaden Schutt the Blue Devils will turn their attention to trying to close on small forward Mark Mitchell. Mitchell has yet to set a date to decide but the buzz has all been centered around UCLA, Duke, Kansas and Missouri. Mitchell and Anthony Black out of Texas, who by all accounts is trending toward a Gonzaga commitment, are the only offers still out for the Blue Devils in the class but luckily with a slew of early decisions Jon Scheyer and crew will have plenty of time to pivot either by a new offer or searching later through then transfer portal.
The immediate needs for Duke would be adding another guard, small forward and perhaps another big as a role player or backup. Duke is expected to have to make wholesale changes from this years team with Paolo Banchero and Adrian Griffin most likely being one and done players and Trevor Keels trending that way if you believe the preseason practice hype so far. The Blue Devils will also lose their 2 graduate transfers in Theo John and Bates Jones and the jury is still out on whether Joey Baker returns for his super senior year, and whether or not Wendell Moore Jr returns for his senior year. The other unknown is Mark Williams who has also been impressive after his emergence during the tail end of last season. Conservatively, the Blue Devils could lose 6 and up to possibly 9 from this years roster so having a hefty recruiting class will me a must. Sprinkling in with transfers is also a very plausible scenario and one that Duke will have to consider going forward.
