After reaching the Elite Eight in this season’s NCAA Tournament, the Duke Blue Devils are looking toward the transfer portal for some help.
The Blue Devils battled the UConn Huskies in their Elite Eight contest, but eventually lost 73-72 in heartbreaking fashion to reach a bitter end to a highly successful season. Duke put together a 35-3 overall record, finishing 17-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Duke Looks to Retool Through Transfer Portal
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has a lot of eyeballs on what he will do through the transfer portal before next season. As the portal moves have heated up, a couple of Blue Devils players have announced their intentions to leave the program.
Darren Harris and Nikolas Khamenia are off to different teams ahead of the 2026-27 college basketball season. Harris played in 36 games for the Blue Devils, averaging 3.3 points per game this season. As for Khamenia, he averaged 5.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for Scheyer’s squad.
On Thursday, Khamenia announced his commitment to UConn, so he’s headed to play for Huskies head coach Dan Hurley in Storrs, Conn., next season. UConn hopes that Khamenia can help them reach the national championship game once again after falling short against the Michigan Wolverines this season.
Harris, on April 13, announced that he’s going to go play for the Indiana Hoosiers next season. So, Harris and Khamenia have found their new teams already.
While the transfer portal traffic will pick up at some point for Scheyer, he and the program received some good news on Thursday. Guard Cayden Boozer announced that he’d be coming back to play for the Blue Devils in the 2026-27 college basketball season.
Duke guard Cayden Boozer will return to the Blue Devils next season, the school announced.https://t.co/SVhLg4A7hV pic.twitter.com/CWpj9OIw2m
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) April 16, 2026
Boozer, during the 2025-26 college basketball season, started in 11 games (38 total appearances) for the Blue Devils. Boozer averaged 7.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 22.8 minutes per game.
Additionally, Boozer shot 50.0% from the floor and 30.3% from beyond the 3-point arc for Duke.
While Cayden is coming back, his brother Cameron is expected to declare for the 2026 NBA Draft after a stellar season with the Blue Devils. Cameron is widely regarded as a top 3-to-5 pick in this year’s draft.
Scheyer and the Blue Devils still have work to do before next season.
