ACC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

Like the team before them, the Duke Blue Devils were incredibly inconsistent in 2019-20, and because of it, they finished fourth in the ACC despite having the ACC Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and having two players selected to the All-ACC first team.

As you can see, Duke had quite the talented team last season, and yet they still lost to teams like Stephen F. Austin, Clemson, NC State, Wake Forest, and an unranked Virginia. However, they still had impressive wins over teams such as Kansas, Florida State, and Michigan State.

Now, as is the case with almost every Duke team, they will be without several key players. The Blue Devils lost Tre Jones, Vernon Carey, and Cassius Stanley to the draft, with Jack White, Javin DeLaurier, and Justin Robinson all graduating as well.

However, although Duke lost a handful of key players, they also had multiple key players return including Jordan Goldwire, Matthew Hurt, Wendell Moore, and Joey Baker.

In addition to several players returning, Duke also had the top recruiting class in the ACC and the second-ranked recruiting class in the nation, behind only Kentucky. Duke had an impressive six recruits who were ranked in the top-55 for the Class of 2020, according to 247 Sports, and they also added a transfer in center Patrick Tape from Columbia.

Here is what Duke’s roster will look like for the 2020-21 season:

• Jalen Johnson, Freshman, Forward
• DJ Steward, Freshman, Guard
• Jeremy Roach, Freshman, Guard
• Jaemyn Brakefield, Freshman, Forward
• Mark Williams, Freshman, Center
• Henry Coleman III, Freshman, Forward
• Wendell Moore jr., Sophomore, Forward
• Matthew Hurt, Sophomore, Forward
• Michael Savarino, Sophomore, Guard
• Keenan Worthington, Sophomore, Forward
• Joey Baker, Junior, Forward
• Jordan Goldwire, Senior, Guard
• Mike Buckmire, Senior, Guard
• Patrick Tape, Graduate Student, Forward

Duke has a rather small roster with only 14 players on the roster, but 11 of those 14 could get legitimate playing time this season, which is odd for a Coach K led team, as he normally plays about eight players at most.

This season, Duke will see non-freshmen play huge roles for the Blue Devils which doesn’t sound out of the ordinary, but for Duke, it is. Although Duke has an impressive class of freshmen coming to Durham this season, their veterans such as Goldwire, Moore, Hurt, and Baker will all get significant time in 2020-21, meaning the freshmen won’t get AS much time as they normally do.

So what does that mean? Can Duke win their first ACC Regular Season Title since 2010, and their third ACC Tournament Title since 2017? Or will they fail to show consistency just like last season and finish the season in the middle of the pack in the ACC?