NCAA Basketball: Duke, Kentucky among the 8 finalists for transfer Johni Broome

The Blue Devils have the same concern as Louisville and Florida in that they will have a first-year head coach in Jon Scheyer next season. But that’s where the similarities stop, as Duke is set to have a preseason top-10 roster once again, led by the No. 1 overall recruiting class.

But that’s where the issue lies, as three of the top-5 overall recruits in the country that are coming to Duke are frontcourt players. That includes five-star power forward Mark Mitchell, as well as center Dereck Lively, considered to be the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2022 recruiting class. And top-5 Kyle Filipowski is a 6’11 shooting big that could play both PF and C, although I think he’s best as a center.

So assuming that Mark Williams and Paolo Banchero do indeed enter the NBA Draft, that would leave four frontcourt players on the roster, including three-star incoming freshman Christian Reeves. With respect to Reeves, that would be three five-star freshmen getting minutes, unless they land another Theo John type transfer later this offseason.

Broome’s talent and being a 3rd-year guy in NCAA Basketball gives Duke a talent and experience boost in the frontcourt. But for the Morehead State transfer, he also could get buried in the frontcourt if these incoming freshmen are the real deal. And that doesn’t even include the question as to how they would all fit and how Coach Scheyer would make it all fit to maximize the roster potential. There’s a high reward here but also the highest risk among all eight options.