The Cameron Boozer era at Duke is officially over. Boozer declared for the 2026 NBA Draft after winning the CBS Sports National Player of the Year award last month.
Boozer is in line to join Cooper Flagg as a top-three pick. Flagg departed for the NBA after one season.
Blackwell Joins a Deep Duke Roster
Duke don’t have a player of Flagg or Boozer’s caliber entering the program. However, they will have arguably the deepest roster in the sport, headlined by Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell.
The Blue Devils are bringing back several familiar faces, including Cayden Boozer, Caleb Foster, Patrick Ngongba II and Dame Sarr. They will pair them with another top-ranked high school recruiting class. Blackwell is the biggest name Duke coach Jon Scheyer has landed via the transfer portal since taking over as head coach.
Blackwell was the No. 3-ranked transfer in the 247Sports rankings. It is likely his team will be a preseason top-five team later this fall.
Blackwell’s Offensive Prowess
Blackwell averaged 19.1 points last season for Wisconsin. He should supplement some of the offense that Boozer and Isaiah Evans generated last season.
Blackwell had plenty of suitors in the portal, including Illinois, Louisville and UCLA. Scheyer winning that recruiting battle is a big deal.
Key Returning Players
Foster will be the most experienced returner on Duke’s roster. The former four-star recruit from the 2023 recruiting class started 30 games last season and averaged career bests in almost every statistical category.
Foster suffered a right foot fracture against North Carolina late in the season. He was still able to return for the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Boozer had an up-and-down freshman season at Duke. However, he found a larger role toward the end of the season — specifically, when Foster went down with an injury.
Boozer ended up starting in all three ACC Tournament games and four NCAA Tournament games. Industry sources told CBS Sports that a transfer had been on the table for Cayden before deciding to return to Duke for his sophomore season.
Scharnowski will be Duke’s Swiss Army Knife this season. He likely won’t be in the starting lineup on opening night, but he is more than capable of playing 15-20 minutes off the bench. He averaged 10.7 points. 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 21.8 minutes per game at Belmont.
- Blackwell averaged 19.1 points last season.
- Foster started 30 games last season.
- Boozer started in all three ACC Tournament games.
CBS Sports is tracking the status of the Duke roster and recruiting class in real time.