Duke Basketball: What life after Zion Williamson looks like for Blue Devils

The past season has been amazing for Duke basketball thanks in part to their star Zion Williamson. What do they do now that he is gone?

Last season was filled with highs and lows for Duke Basketball. When we all first saw Zion Williamson in a Duke uniform, we immediately named the Blue Devils the favorites to win a ring. Coming off of one of the best recruiting classes in college basketball history, they had incredibly high hopes.

For the most part, the year was incredibly successful for Coach K and company. They had the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Zion exceeded every expectation imaginable, and the Blue Devils made it to the Elite Eight. It was a disappointment that they failed to make it to the Final Four and win a title, but that’s what happens in the one-and-done era of college basketball with a 68-team tournament.

Now that Zion is in the NBA, Duke basketball is going to have to learn what life after him looks like. In many ways, it will be similar to life before him. As the times change, what should Duke fans expect?

Recruiting

Recruiting will change a good bit for Duke. Last season, the team mostly went for stars. Those stars were amazing, and Duke will continue to recruit stars, but they also need depth pieces who will play for multiple seasons.

Zion solved a lot of the problems that Duke had with his athleticism and scoring. Pairing him with Barrett was a luxury, and Duke simply won’t have anything like that again for a long time. They will have to have more returning players like Tre Jones moving forward. Every championship team has upperclassmen that lead, and this will be a recruiting priority. Stars are great, but one injury can end a season without the older guys.

Championship contention

In terms of overall success, this might have been Duke’s best year since they won the title in 2015. As long as Coach K is the head coach, this team will be competing for titles. However, there are a lot of questions as to whether or not Duke will win another any time soon. This is hard to determine without knowing future recruiting classes, but Duke certainly won’t be the frontrunner this year. In many ways, this team will be like they have been before: plenty of stars, but not the best team in the country.

The teams of the future might not make as many highlight plays as Zion did, but they will still be good. Fans will just have to come back down from the high that was brought by the 2018 recruiting class.