As Braylon Mullins of Connecticut sank an improbable shot to deny Duke a trip to the 2026 Final Four and extend the program’s title drought, coach Jon Scheyer tried to find the words to explain how his team had let another opportunity to win the NCAA Tournament slip away.
But one thing was clear: These March Madness collapses can’t keep happening.
Mullins’ last-second, game-winning 3-pointer came one year after Duke blew a 14-point second-half lead against Houston in the 2025 Final Four. Before that came an Elite Eight loss to NC State in 2024.
For years, Duke continued churning out elite recruiting classes filled with one-and-done talent, including seven such players under Scheyer.
But college basketball’s championship formula had changed. Experience became golden, and while veteran teams cut down the nets, Duke’s youth kept showing up at the worst possible moments.
All that talent could carry the Blue Devils a long way.
It just couldn’t get them across the finish line.
"We've got to finish it off. We'll reflect. We'll learn," he said.
This year’s roster suggests Scheyer took that lesson to heart.
Duke, ranked No. 2 in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, enters the 2026-27 season the way it seemingly always does: with a championship-caliber roster and expectations of winning a national title.
Only this time, the roster has been built differently.
Duke has rarity of returning starters
In what may feel like a break from Duke’s recent approach, plenty of players you saw last season are still on campus.
And they aren’t just back. They’re impact players.
Four of Duke’s top six scorers from 2025-26 return, a rarity under Scheyer. The group includes junior center Patrick Ngongba II, a force in the paint when healthy; senior guard Caleb Foster, the team’s top 3-point shooter; Cayden Boozer, ready to step out of his brother’s shadow; and Dame Sarr, an outstanding defensive combo guard.
And if that returning experience isn’t enough, Duke added even more.
John Blackwell arrives from Wisconsin after scoring 1,505 points in 107 career games. He gives the Blue Devils the kind of proven college scorer they’ve rarely had through the transfer portal. Duke has landed productive transfers before, but not many with Blackwell’s ability to take over a game.
It all creates an unusual dynamic in Durham: Nearly the entire projected starting lineup will have at least a full season of college basketball experience.
For Duke, that might be the biggest change of all.
Don't discount Duke's recruiting class
Rather than serving as the star attraction, Duke’s latest recruiting class can afford to take a back seat, at least to start.
"I don't know if they're going to have an immediate impact at the level that we've seen," Scheyer said of his freshman during the ACC tipoff. "We've seen historic impact with our freshmen, but they're going to be contributors to winning."
In other words: They might not steal the spotlight, but they’re still really good.
The Blue Devils once again boast one of the nation’s best freshman classes, ranked second by most recruiting services. Five-star recruits Cameron Williams and Deron Rippey Jr. headline the group and figure to carve out roles immediately.
But the freshman generating the most buzz has been Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje.
The 7-2 center from Spain already has turned heads, showing he can use his size inside while also stretching the floor with his shooting.
Boumtje Boumtje was voted preseason ACC Rookie of the Year and figures to start immediately. Another bonus for Duke: He could be in Durham for two seasons because he isn’t eligible for the NBA draft until 2028.
Add it all together, and Scheyer might have his deepest roster yet.
Where Duke often has relied on six or seven talented underclassmen, Scheyer legitimately could go 10 or even 11 deep this season. More importantly, most of those players already know what it takes to succeed in college basketball, giving Duke’s freshmen something recent Blue Devils classes haven’t always had: veterans to show them the way.
"They're fortunate they have more experience in the building to look to where guys can help guide them," Scheyer said. "I think these guys have really connected. They're going to grow and be big parts of what we do going forward."
It took some time, and plenty of March heartbreak, but Duke finally appears to have the kind of roster built to win a national championship.
How good is that formula? We’ll find out quickly.
Duke’s nonconference schedule includes No. 6 Michigan State, No. 3 Illinois, No. 5 Connecticut, No. 1 Florida and No. 16 Texas Tech, all before Christmas. The ACC again presents challenges, including No. 11 Louisville and rival North Carolina, but the Blue Devils have the talent and experience to make another run at a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The five national championship banners hanging inside Cameron Indoor Stadium haven’t welcomed a new member since 2015. Starting with Mike Krzyzewski’s first championship in 1991, Duke had never gone more than 10 years without adding another.
That drought has now reached unfamiliar territory.
And this team might represent Scheyer’s best chance yet to end it, while finally replacing the nightmares of Duke’s recent NCAA Tournament heartbreak with the ending that has repeatedly eluded the Blue Devils.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Duke’s March failures exposed a problem. This roster was built to fix it
