NCAA Basketball: Arizona, Indiana, and Ole Miss rise in updated 2024-25 WTE power rankings

5. Duke Blue Devils

When looking at the individuals' prestige and talent, a good case can be made that Duke suffered the biggest collective loss via the transfer portal. Starting guard Jeremy Roach left for Baylor while starting forward Mark Mitchell left for Missouri. Then, several bench pieces left as well, including former five-star prospects, TJ Power and Sean Stewart. 

That doesn’t even include leading scorers, Kyle Filipwoski and Jared McCain, who went off to the NBA. But not everyone left, as guards Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster are back to be the projected starting guards.

But like any year, Duke is a projected top-10 team because of the loaded No. 1 recruiting class. Yet this group may be the best for Duke in a long time, led by No. 1 overall prospect, Cooper Flagg. If he’s as good as advertised, the Blue Devils will be title contenders. Other 5-star newcomers to remember are bigs Patrick Ngongba and Khaman Maluach, and wings Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel.

To make sure that there’s some experience and veteran leadership, Duke also added two frontcourt transfers. Mason Gillis was the 6th Man of the Year at Purdue and a capable shooter, while Maliq Brown is a 6’9 forward from Syracuse, who earned all-defensive honors in the ACC. Once again, the Blue Devils won’t have to worry about a shortage of talent next season.