Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has failed to lead the Blue Devils to the national championship since he was named the heir apparent to five-time national champion Mike Krzyzewski in 2022. Despite a star-studded roster, the team has settled for one Final Four, two Elite Eights, and one second-round finish over the four-season stretch.
Rebuilding a new roster amid high turnover, with players transferring and trying out for the NBA, while making it a juggernaut every season has been a challenging task for Scheyer and his coaching staff. The upcoming season is no different from previous ones, as Scheyer attempts to recruit players he believes will help the team finally win its sixth national title — its first since 2015.
Analyst Places Duke at the Lead To Secure John Blackwell’s Commitment
With the window closing at midnight Tuesday, the Blue Devils’ tactician has landed Belmont forward Drew Scharnowski from the transfer portal and accepted the departures of underclassmen Nik Khamenia and Darren Harris. Scheyer and his coaching staff are still on the hunt for additional players to strengthen the Blue Devils’ 2026-27 men’s college basketball campaign.
On Monday, Joe Tipton placed On3’s recruiting prediction machine and gave a 60% confidence rating that Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell will play for Duke next season. Blackwell, who visited the campus in Durham, North Carolina, on Monday, will be a major addition to the Blue Devils, Tipton believed.
NEW: On3’s @JoeTipton has logged an expert prediction for Duke to land Wisconsin star transfer guard John Blackwell😈https://t.co/RCCXGFitCd pic.twitter.com/NhL7umqE8p
— On3 (@On3) April 20, 2026
“Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell is one of the most coveted players in the transfer portal,” Tipton said. “The 6-foot-4 shooting guard took an official visit to Duke on Monday, and the Blue Devils are carrying the momentum in this recruitment. I’ve officially placed an RPM prediction in favor of Duke to ultimately land the star transfer.”
Blackwell had been a standout at Madison, averaging double figures for two straight seasons. His junior year was his breakout, as he averaged career highs of 19.1 points and shot 85.9% from the free-throw line over 34 games. This past season, he shot 43.0% from the field, including 38.9% from 3, for the Badgers before announcing his intention to enter the transfer portal.
If Tipton gets it right and Scheyer secures Blackwell’s commitment, the Blue Devils will have a high-scoring non-freshman scorer on their roster. If Blackwell takes over and leads Duke in scoring despite having five-star freshmen Cameron Williams and Bryson Howard on the roster, it would mark a different look from the past two seasons, when freshmen Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer were the team’s primary offensive weapons.
The last time a non-freshman led the Blue Devils in scoring was in the 2023-24 season, when Kyle Filipowski, then a sophomore, averaged 16.4 ppg, outscoring first-year Jared McCain, who scored 14.3 points per game for Duke.
Scheyer, who is signed with Duke as head coach through the 2030-31 season, hopes to finally find the right mix to steer the Blue Devils to the national title and move out of Krzyzewski’s shadow once and for all.
