Jon Scheyer speaks on major impact losing all five starters had on future of his program
Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer spoke in a press conference for the first time this summer on July 8th, both reflecting on last season and the heartbreak that came with it, while simultaneously looking ahead to the 2025-26 campaign with a revamped roster.
It’s not too often that a coach loses his entire starting five all at once from a team that went to the Final Four, but that’s what occurred for the Blue Devils. Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach, Tyrese Proctor, Sion James, and Kon Knueppel were all selected in the 2025 NBA Draft, leaving Scheyer and his staff with an extremely new and young rotation.
Scheyer spoke on the impact of losing his entire starting five and how he attacked his rotation rebuild right away.
“We knew we’d have a chance to have five guys drafted…we also knew that’s a lot of firepower to replace. And the best way to do that, in my mind right away, was to get Caleb Foster to come back, to get Isaiah Evans to come back. Pat [Ngongba], Darren [Harris], Maliq [Brown]. And then to solidify Nik [Khamenia], Cayden [Boozer], and Cam [Boozer]. You know, we knew that that was a great eight-man roster.”
As Scheyer also stated, the roster goes beyond just the first eight guys. However, his ability to bring back several key guys and solidify the No. 1 overall recruiting class is the reason the Blue Devils aren’t guaranteed to take a step back next season. It’s extremely difficult to replicate a team that went to the Final Four, especially when you lose every starter that was a part of that squad, but Scheyer and his staff have put themselves in the best position to do so.
Foster is poised for a breakout junior season after a bit of a disappointing sophomore campaign. After entering the season as a starter, he was later sent to the bench in favor of James and didn’t live up to expectations. Although, he, along with Evans and Harris, is ready to make some noise on the college basketball scene next year.
As for the incoming rookies, Scheyer is bringing in the top-ranked class headlined by the aforementioned guys, along with late additions Dame Sarr and Sebastian Wilkins.
Khamenia is coming off a gold medal win with the US U19 team at the FIBA U19 World Championships, and many view Cameron Boozer as the top incoming freshman in college basketball. The freshmen are bringing elite shooting and length, but their development will be key to bring Duke over the hump into a true national championship contender in 2025-26.
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