Freshman guard Jared McCain announced his departure from Duke on social media, declaring for the NBA Draft late Friday morning.
Just over an hour later, another key Blue Devils underclassman, sophomore center Kyle Filipowski, did the same.
Filipowski and McCain were Duke’s top scorers during the 2023-24 season, scoring 16.4 and 14.3 points per game, respectively.
Always love đź’™ pic.twitter.com/LF1W1iFY8K
— Kyle “Flip” Filipowski (@kylefilipowski) April 12, 2024
They were the only two players on the team who started all 36 games (including the four NCAA Tournament games).
Filipowski was the ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP in 2022-23. He finished the 2023-24 season among the conference’s top ten in a variety of statistics, including blocks per game (1.5, fourth), rebounds (8.3, sixth), and field-goal percentage (.505, seventh).
McCain and Filipowski aren’t the only starters that head coach Jon Scheyer will have to replace this fall.
The Blue Devils will lose senior guard Jeremy Roach to graduation. This season, Roach started 33 games and led the club in minutes per game (32.7) in three-point field-goal percentage (.429), while ranking second in assists (3.3) and third in scoring (14.0).
Mark Mitchell, a sophomore forward, has entered the transfer portal and is likely to leave as well. Mitchell started 32 of 33 games this season and was Duke’s second-leading rebounding (6.0 per game) and fourth-leading scorer (11.6).
Tyrese Proctor, a sophomore guard, is likely to be the only starter who returns for the 2024-25 season. This season, the Australian topped the squad in assists per game (3.7) over 32 games (25 starts).
Despite the substantial loss of talent, Duke is anticipated to be a national title contender again with the addition of No. 1 prospect Cooper Flagg, who committed to the Blue Devils in November.
Leave a Reply