The Duke Blue Devils are one of the most complete college basketball teams. They also have one of the biggest stars in college basketball, freshman Copper Flagg. They are a perennial threat to win the NCAA tournament and may do so again this year. The Duke Blue Devils are No.1 in the KenPom college basketball rankings. They are also very likely to get a top seed. The Duke Blue Devils will have one of the easiest paths to the NCAA tournament title. Do you think the Duke Blue Devils will win the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament?
Duke Blue Devil Men’s Basketball Roster
Flagg is the freshman sensation for the Duke Blue Devils, and he may be the best player in the nation. He has averaged 19.4 points in 31 games this season. Kon Knueppel is a guard for the Duke Blue Devils. He has averaged 13.7 points in 31 games this year. He is a freshman too. Tyrese Proctor is a junior guard for the Duke Blue Devils. His output has slowly risen over the three years he has been in school. He is a starter.
Sion James is a senior guard and a spot starter for Duke. He averaged more points per game in his junior season than in his senior season. Nevertheless, he is the fourth leading scorer for Duke. Khaman Maluach is the starting center for Duke. He is 7-foot-2 inches tall. He is from the South Sudan. Isaiah Evans is a freshman guard from North Carolina. The sometime starter has averaged 7.7 points in 28 games this season for Duke.
Caleb Foster is a sophomore guard from North Carolina. He is a starter for Duke but is a role player who has only averaged 5.3 points this season. The Duke bench consists of Mason Gillis, Patrick Ngongba II, Maliq Brown, Darren Harris, Spencer Hubbard, Cameron Sheffield, Neal Begovich, and Stanley Borden. Borden is a 7-foot-tall senior center from Turkey. The Duke fans cheer when he gets in the game.
Main Storylines
The top story now for the Duke Blue Devils is their win over rival North Carolina on March 8, 2025. The Duke Blue Devils won the rivalry game 82-69 despite playing without Flagg for nearly 10 minutes in the first half. The teams, as Atlantic Coast Conference rivals, play twice a regular season. The game on Saturday was in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The second most important story is the NCAA tournament projection for the Duke Blue Devils, which currently has them seeded first in the East Region. There is no doubt there will be high expectations in the NCAA Tournament.
Flagg may also win the John Wooden Award as the best player in college basketball. His main competition is Johni Broome from Auburn. Over seven games in January, Flagg averaged 25.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists while shooting 57.9% from the field and 42.9% from three-point range. He set an ACC freshman record with 42 points against Notre Dame in January. If Flagg were to win, he would be just the fourth freshman to claim the award.
Conclusion
Duke has a very good chance to win the NCAA Tournament. They will be seeded very high and might be the No. 1 overall seed. That said, it seems like they are seeded high every year and get upset regularly. Duke has only won five championships: 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, and 2015. When a team is as good as Duke is it is a regular occurrence to get seeded highly. If they do not win the championship every year it seems like an upset.
