Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer Reacts to Tough Basketball Schedule with Addition of Another Marquee Matchup!
Aiming to provide what’s expected to be one of the nation’s top teams with multiple opportunities to prove their mettle, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has scheduled a series of high-profile non-conference games for the Blue Devils next season. The latest addition to this challenging lineup is a marquee matchup against Kansas on November 26 in Las Vegas, officially announced Thursday. This neutral-site game is part of a western swing for Duke, who will play at Arizona on November 21 before heading directly to Las Vegas for the Vegas Showdown at T-Mobile Arena. Both Kansas and Arizona are projected to be top-25 preseason teams alongside Duke and NCAA Tournament contenders for next season.
In addition to facing Kansas and Arizona, Duke will also meet Kentucky at the Champions Classic on November 12 in Atlanta and Illinois in a neutral-site game at New York’s Madison Square Garden next February. The exact date for the game against Illinois is still to be finalized. The Blue Devils are also slated to play a high-level opponent in the ACC-SEC Challenge the week after Thanksgiving. Further non-conference games include matchups against George Mason and Maine at Cameron Indoor Stadium, with Maine kicking off the season on November 4 and George Mason visiting on December 17. Duke will also host Seattle from the Western Athletic Conference on November 29. George Mason is coming off a 20-12 season, while Seattle finished 23-14 last season.
Scheyer has led Duke to consecutive 27-9 seasons in his first two years as head coach, succeeding Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski. The NCAA Tournament selection committee seeded the Blue Devils as a No. 5 regional seed in 2023 and a No. 4 seed last March. Next season’s schedule is designed to enhance Duke’s ranking in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) and improve their chances of securing a better NCAA Tournament seed. Scheyer’s third team features six freshmen, forming the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class. Leading the class is Cooper Flagg, a 6-9 forward and the No. 1-rated recruit, projected to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Khaman Maluach, a 7-2 center from Africa, is another standout in the class, also expected to be a one-and-done player.
Duke will return two starting guards: 6-5 junior Tyrese Proctor and 6-5 sophomore Caleb Foster. Additionally, the Blue Devils bolstered their roster with senior guard Sion James, senior forward Mason Gillis, and junior forward Maliq Brown via the transfer portal. James, a 6-6 guard, started the past four seasons at Tulane, while Gillis, a 6-5 forward, was the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year with Purdue last season. Brown, a 6-6 forward, made the ACC’s All-Defensive Team, leading the league in steals as a sophomore at Syracuse. The rest of the incoming recruiting class includes 6-11 center Patrick Ngongba, 6-6 forward Isaiah Evans, 6-5 forward Kon Knueppel, and 6-6 forward Darren Harris. Additionally, graduate student guard Cameron Sheffield joins the Blue Devils as a transfer from Rice.
Duke’s ACC schedule features home games against North Carolina, Wake Forest, Miami, California, Florida State, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Stanford, and Virginia Tech, with road games at Boston College, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia, North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Miami.
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