Welcome to the Hoos Place 2019 Summer Hoops Refresh, where we review last season and this summer’s personnel moves for all 15 ACC programs in alphabetical order. To read program capsules already complete, you can click here. Today we look at the…

Duke Blue Devils

The Zion era is over as fast as it started without a Final Four appearance to show for it. Coach K returns to the blue chip well with another big class of top prospects, but returns two starters to pair with them. Duke has failed to reach the Final Four the last four seasons; will this be the group that gets him back to the top?

Coach: Mike Krzyzewski; 1132-344 in 44 seasons overall, 1059-285 (426–175) in 39 seasons at Duke.

2018-19 Record: Last season: 32-6 (14-4); ACCT Champion (3 seed); NCAAT Elite Eight (1 Seed)

2018-19 Efficiency:

Roster Roundup:

*Projected starters in bold

2019/20 ACC Opponents:

Outlook:

Another year, another line change of top Duke recruits. Gone are the NBA Lottery trio of Zion, RJ, and Reddish, along with big man bust Bolden. In are two five-star big men Hurt and Carey along with two Top 40 wings. Carey will bring a Dwight Howard like physicality to the 5-spot and likely gets the initial nod over stretch 5 Matthew Hurt, who I do worry is going to struggle to adapt defensively. DeLaurier and White will tag team at the 4 to be the token veteran presence on the floor. It’s a solid front court rotation. Duke’s fortunes will rise and fall with the performance of their backcourt. The return of Tre Jones was a massive coup for the Blue Devils, as they haven’t had an incumbent start at the 1-spot since Quinn Cook, and having a veteran (even a second year) at the point will add some stability. But Moore and Stanley aren’t arriving with quite the same pedigree as some past Duke super-frosh. Neither seems to have much of a rep as a knock-down shooter, and when coupled with Jones’ dismal 26% 3P% as a rookie, Duke’s floor spacing could be a concern. There may be an opening for O’Connell or Baker to forge a role as a green-lit gunner.

Ultimately this will be a solid Duke team, and a relative down year across the top of the conference should enable Duke to out-talent their way to an ACC Top 4 finish and likely 2/3 seed in the Big Dance. But this isn’t the Final Four kind of team Duke has put on the floor the last two years, where the Blue Devils were legitimate national title contenders in March before dropping Elite Eight heartbreakers to rival Blue Bloods Kansas and Michigan State. Not to say that this team can’t make a March run, only that it’s not as likely to. I worry about defense on the wings and I worry about shooting, and that’s going to get them knocked off by some sharp, veteran squads along the way.