Duke Basketball: 10 biggest storylines heading into 2020-21 season

3. Big years for both Hurt and Moore

It won’t be all about the freshmen for Duke next year, with a pair of former top-40 recruits set to come back for another season in Matthew Hurt and Wendell Moore Jr. Compared to preseason expectations for when they were freshmen themselves a year ago, Moore arguably faired well while Hurt struggled to carve out a role next to Carey.

Moore is an intriguing talent as he’s a solid wing that can’t shoot the ball whatsoever. He took just 19 attempts from deep (made 4) and primarily wants to slash to the basket for his offensive game. But he’s versatile to play and guard three positions on the court and is a great athlete. With how many forwards are on the roster, his best chance is to be Johnson and Hurt’s primary backup at the forward positions.

During the first half against Kansas in the Champions Classic, it looked as if Hurt was on his way to the lottery. But the sharpshooting forward never could find his consistency the rest of the season, having almost as many 20+ point efforts as he did going scoreless. But there’s a clear role for him in the frontcourt to spread the floor on the offense alongside any of the freshmen. He just needs to improve on defense and in rebounding before Hurt gets relegated into being simply a three-point specialist off the bench.

This is an important year for both players in terms of their futures with the program. If they manage to break out next season, the NBA Draft likely awaits. But if the freshmen outplay them and deplete their minutes, the transfer portal could be in the future. Either way, Hurt and Moore are now veterans and will be looked to as leaders to help navigate being the “hunted” for each upcoming opponent, as well as the pandemic that will be part of the season.