Busting Brackets
Fansided

Duke Basketball: Way-too-early look at potential 2020-21 Blue Devils roster

By Matthew Travis

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils reacts against the Michigan State Spartans during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils reacts against the Michigan State Spartans during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: The Duke Blue Devils mascot performs against the Michigan State Spartans during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 31: The Duke Blue Devils mascot performs against the Michigan State Spartans during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Power Forward

Power forward is one of the two positions that is a complete guessing game at this point in time for Duke. Matthew Hurt who will be starting at power forward for the Blue Devils in 2019-20, will likely be headed for the NBA after his freshman year, which means Duke will need to get a commitment from another power forward to fill that position.

The odds of Hurt staying for his sophomore season are very low, mainly because the forward out of Minnesota was the 11th ranked player in the Class of 2019, which means his draft stock will likely be rather high.

This being said, Hurt will likely see this potential and decide to leave Duke for the NBA after only one season. I think the only way Hurt stays is if he gets overshadowed by players such as Wendell Moore and Vernon Carey in his freshman year and doesn’t like his chances at being a lottery pick.

However, I don’t think this will be the case and therefore Hurt will end up in the NBA after one season at Duke.

Therefore, Duke will have a freshman starting at power forward for what feels like the 8th consecutive season. Who could that player be though, is the question.

One player to keep your eye on would be Scottie Barnes who is currently the third-ranked power forward and ninth-ranked player overall in the Class of 2020.

One notable connection Barnes has to Duke is between him and Vernon Carey jr., as they both attend(ed) NSU University School, which could be a good sign for the Blue Devils. Hopefully Carey does some recruiting and convinces Barnes to join The Brotherhood.

Barnes’ final eight schools are Cal, Duke, Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Ohio State and Oregon. This would be the main power forward I would keep my eye on for the Blue Devils and I believe he will wind up playing for Coach K and Duke University.

What I believe the power forward depth chart will look like in 2020-21:

  1. Scottie Barnes (or another top recruit)
  2. Joey Baker

Scottie Barnes will likely get the majority of the minutes at power forward if he does wind up at Duke and as we know, Coach K typically uses an eight player rotation. So with that being said, you will likely see Barnes and Baker get the majority of minutes at the four.

Home/Duke Blue Devils