Duke Basketball will have a very different roster for the 2018-19 season. How will the minutes and rotations look for this group of Blue Devils?
Duke Basketball has changed as a program when it comes to how they recruit. The Blue Devils were historically known for having great upperclassmen through the years, right until the past five years.
Taking a page out of John Calipari of Kentucky, head coach Mike Krzyzewski starting going after “one and dones” himself, bringing in the very best talent out of high school. Last season was featured the top recruiting class, with Trevon Duval, Gary Trent Jr., Wendell Carter Jr., Marvin Bagley III and a few others who’re still on the roster.
Along with senior Grayson Allen, all five starters on last year’s team are gone. But like clockwork, another cast of stars are coming in to replace them. At one point, the Blue Devils had the top three players of the 2018 class (Cameron Reddish, RJ Barrett, and Zion Williamson) which would’ve been historic.
Along with the brother of a former Duke national title winner, the team’s starting lineup is mostly set. The question is – how many minutes will they get?
Don’t forget, this isn’t a typical NCAA Basketball bench. There are a number of former top-100 players who would easily get 15+ minutes on most other D-1 and will them now being veterans, look for them to find a way to get on the court as well.
For this piece, I’ll be using the traditional basketball positions to detail where they’ll play on the court next season and for how long. With so many quality players on this roster, it wasn’t an easy thing to do.