The Duke Blue Devils probably won’t have a superstar freshman who doubles as the best player in the country for the 2026-27 season like they did the previous two years with Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer. That means Duke has real work to do in the transfer portal this season, and it landed its best piece yet on Wednesday afternoon by nabbing one of the top players available.
John Blackwell committed to Duke in the transfer portal per ESPN after deciding to leave the Wisconsin Badgers after three seasons. Blackwell was a three-star recruit who didn’t even place in the top-200 of the national recruiting rankings entering Wisconsin, but he exploded into one of the best guards in the Big Ten as a sophomore, and then took another step forward as a junior. Wisconsin won 51 games over the last two years and made a pair of NCAA tournament appearances with Blackwell as one of their lead players. Now he’s set to be the top option on the perimeter after choosing the Blue Devils over interest from Louisville, Illinois, and others.
We ranked Blackwell as the 44th best player entering the 2026 NCAA tournament. He averaged 19.1 points on per game on 59.3 percent true shooting this year by blending on- and off-ball versatility on offense and showing off a very good three-point shooting stroke and advanced mid-range game. Blackwell made 39 percent of the 241 threes he attempted this past season with 25 percent of those being unassisted, and also made 40 percent of his mid-range shots with more than 70 percent unassisted. The 6’4 guard is more of a scorer than a pure point, but he does a a good job suppressing turnovers as a ball handler. In general, he’s a guard who can handle high usage (25.6 percent last season), create a good look for himself, and rip threes while proving he can play alongside other stars the last two years next to John Tonje and Nick Boyd at Wisconsin respectively.
Duke had already landed a transfer portal commitment from 6’9 Belmont big man Drew Scharnowski. Star center Patrick Ngongba is also coming back to Duke instead of entering the NBA Draft, and Cayden Boozer is back for his sophomore year, too. Duke almost certainly isn’t done adding to the roster, but it might have to wait for a few players to make decisions on the 2026 NBA Draft. Remember: Duke had a commitment from Cedric Coward this time last year before he won over pro scouts at the combine and eventually developed into a lottery pick and one of this year’s better rookies.
Let’s dive into what Duke has on the 2026-27 roster right now, plus the players they could still land.
Duke men’s basketball projected roster for 2026-2027 season
These are the players Duke has committed for next year if everyone returns. I’m just going to take a wild guess at the lineup.
Bench: F/C Drew Scharnowski, G Caleb Foster*, G Deron Ripley Jr., F Bryson Howard, C Maxime Meyer, F Sebastian Wilkins
The * next to a player’s name means they’re currently expected to return without an announcement yet. Sarr and Foster will both have big decisions that will go a long way toward shaping Duke’s roster.
Who else could Duke still land in the transfer portal?
The biggest name available for Duke or any school is Allen Graves. The Santa Clara forward declared for the 2026 NBA Draft, but it’s hard to say what his stock will look like right now. Graves was one of the most productive players in the country on a per-minute basis, but he also didn’t play a ton of minutes because of constant foul trouble. The 6’9 forward is a defensive ballhawk with a five percent block rate and 4.9 percent steal rate, and he also hit 40 percent of his three-pointers this past season. He’s an elite rebounder with crazy hands, a non-stop motor, and a true nose for the ball on both ends. I would take him with a first-round pick this year, but it’s likely Duke or Kentucky or anyone else would offer him more money to return to college and prove his stock against better competition in a bigger role.
Could Duke still land Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic if he doesn’t stick in the draft? Is there another high-profile player coming? It’s all possible. After falling in the Final Four with Flagg and the Elite Eight with Boozer, head coach Jon Scheyer needs a deep run in the tournament. He’s got his work cut out for him, but this is a strong start.
