Mike Krzyzewski has seen a lot of come and go in his four decades at Duke. Still, he was a little nervous when he realized he will head into next season with just one returning starter from this spring’s championship squad.
Despite those losses, Krzyzewski thinks his team will “have a chance to be pretty good” thanks to an influx of talent from the prep ranks.
"We'll have firepower," Krzyzewski told the Raleigh News and Observer. "It will be different in that we don't have that one guy inside, but we have big guys. And we should be able to score the ball.”
Duke will have to replace senior Quinn Cook and NBA Draft early entrants Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow from last year’s team. They will attempt to do so with four of the country’s top 25 recruits: Luke Kennard, Derryck Thornton, Chase Jeter and Brandon Ingram, an in-state recruit ranked third overall by ESPN.
"With these guys coming in, we know they are really good players," associate head coach Jeff Capel said. "They are very talented, and they are going to play. It's just that we don't exactly know what role or what shape our team is going to take yet. And that's exciting. It's exciting to see and get a feel for when we get them here and get them in workouts and figure out who they are."
Ingram is the jewel of Duke’s newest recruiting class. The Kinston, N.C., native picked the Blue Devils over other top programs, including in-state rival North Carolina.
"Brandon will have a huge impact on our team," Capel said. "We don't know exactly what that is going to mean, but when you have someone as talented as he is and unique—that's the key word for him, he is just very unique. Really, he is a 6-foot-10 guard."