9. Duke Blue Devils
Strength: NBA talent all over
The Blue Devils have 4 five-star freshmen coming in, including centers Derek Lively and Kyle Filipowski, as well as top-5 overall guard Dariq Whitehead. This is a team that has top-100 talent all over the roster, multiple All-American candidates and solid Big Ten transfers in Ryan Young (Northwestern) and Jacob Grandison (Illinois) to bolster the depth and experience.
With Grandison joining from the portal, the team should have enough three-point shooting to contend next season. Duke is usually young but brought in experience but once again has the No. 1 overall recruiting class. In a sport where the most talent usually wins, this team won’t be on the wrong side of that battle most of the time.
Weakness: Point guard play consistency
Last season, Wendell Moore broke out to become Duke’s lead guard of sorts, while Jeremy Roach went in and out of the lineup. He had a strong March and will be the starting point guard this year but hasn’t shown that he can produce for 30 games. If he struggles, the Blue Devils don’t have many other options outside of Tyrese Proctor, who reclassified to join the team for 2022-23.
If Roach is the weakest link on paper, then the Blue Devils are in solid shape. However, point guard play is very important for team to make a potential run so his consistency (or lacktherof) could be the determinative factor for the team’s campaign.