2026 Men's Basketball Recruiting

JasonEvans said:
Following the reclass, Branch is widely regarded as being in the top 5 in the 2026 class. Joe Tipton says it is very early but it appears Branch is largely focused on 3 schools... BYU, Duke, and USC. He says Kansas, Kentucky, and Arizona trying to make up ground. It appears BYU is making Branch their top priority, somewhat like they did with Dybantsa (though Branch is not considered quite as good of a prospect as AJ).

About Duke Tipton specifically says: "Duke would be a real threat if they decide to ramp things up."

Duke fans need to pay attention to this one. This kid is a big big big time talent.
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Bruce Branch committed to BYU today.
 
CDu said:
It's a really good question. And a really hard one to answer with confidence. I feel confident in the style of player he'll be next year: a gritty, tough, versatile player who can do a bit of everything but perhaps nothing in particular at "star" level. Sort of a "glue guy" type. Could he develop into more? Maybe! Could he still have trouble matching the athleticism? Maybe! I could certainly see him having a breakout sophomore year. I could see him being again a reserve. Such is the case when you have a "jack of all trades..." type of game. Not everyone is able to translate that into stardom. It took Daniel Ewing the better part of 2 years to get there. It took Wendell Moore 3 years to get there. Similar for Nolan Smith. It took Carrawell until his senior year. And those were among the guys like that who made it. Meanwhile, a guy like Singler (who, to be fair, was also a different tier of recruit than the others) was a star from day one. You just never know.

Hopefully Khamenia's growth path looks more like Ewing's than the other (non-Singler) guys.
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Overall I agree with you, but think you are selling CWell a bit short. His per 40 numbers, other than assists, between his soph, junior, and senior seasons are pretty similar, with main difference being lower minutes on the loaded 98 and 99 teams.
 
mkirsh said:
Overall I agree with you, but think you are selling CWell a bit short. His per 40 numbers, other than assists, between his soph, junior, and senior seasons are pretty similar, with main difference being lower minutes on the loaded 98 and 99 teams.
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Definitely a fair point on CWell. He had the "misfortune" of playing on some really great teams in 1998 and 1999.
 
Monmouth77 said:
I guess CJS disagrees with you as he singled out Pat in post game interviews by praising his playmaking ability, including on the lob to Evans off the late timeout that gave us huge momentum down the stretch. Find me another big man in the draft not named Boozer who makes that play.
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Coaches with class, like Jon, don’t get down on their players in public. I didn’t say he’s a bad player, but he does have weaknesses which IMO will limit him in the pros more than they do now in college, if he does not improve them. I would not want him to be a jag in the NBA.
 
During the past two seasons, Jon has had a quality set of team mates along with at least one major star player. For the coming season, it is not clear that any major star will emerge. It will be interesting to see how the team will fair under those circumstances. I expect Jon will make additional moves in the portal, but none will garner anyone the caliber of Boozer or Flagg.
 
DavidBenAkiva said:
Depends on the rest of the roster IMO.

If Cayden Boozer, Foster, and Sarr all return, I think Nik becomes that super 6th man that plays either forward position. He seems to have a workable shot and is willing to get his hands dirty on both ends of the court. I could see him carving out a role of 25+ MPG and giving the team either a big look at the 3 or a smaller, quicker look with him at the 4.

If Sarr or others leave after the season, Khamenia seems poised to start next year. Over time, I think he ends up as a Jack of All Trades / Master of None type, like a discount version of Kyle Singler if you squint hard enough.
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I agree that it depends on the roster.

Let's assume Cam B, Evans, Ngongba, and Sarr are gone. Yes, I know people believe some of them might not be, but that might be more wishful thinking than grounded in the probable.

That leaves Foster, Cayden Boozer, Rippey, Howard, and Harris on the perimeter, and Cam Williams, a portal (or Euro) big to be named later, and Sebastian Wilkins in the big-rotation (Maxime Meyer seems more of a project who probably won't make the regular rotation). Khamenia could swing, either to the perimeter or the interior.

Would Khamenia likely start with that roster? I'm not sure. If the roster looks like the above, I'd expect Foster, Cayden Boozer, Cam Williams, and big-to-be-named-later very likely to start, leaving one starting spot to be fought over by Rippey, Howard, Khamenia, and Harris. If you want to pencil Rippey into the top four and throw Cayden Boozer into the competition to be the fifth starter, it doesn't really affect the math.

The question then becomes whether some other team throwing bags of money at Harris or Khamenia would be persuasive under the above scenario. I don't think it's a lock that either of those guys return to Duke, unless Coach Scheyer tells one of them that they're likely to start. Which of course would answer the question for us.

All that said, assuming Khamenia returns to Duke he'd almost certainly receive solid rotation (top 7) minutes. Whether that's a starting role, or a 25+ mpg role off the bench, or an 18-to-24 mpg rotation player role is more murky.
 
Sarr is a possibility for NBA but I see him returning. Ngongba is more likely than Sarr to bolt. Evans is probably a NBA first round pick. With NIL and an amazing coaching staff and the media attention at Duke , it isn’t an easy decision for 3 of 4 NBA draft prospects
 
Pghdukie said:
Big Pat needs another year at Duke.
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Pat may need it, but will he take it? If he gets feedback from the NBA that he's almost certain to go in the top 10-15 players, he will do like most youngsters and take the NBA route. I'm not sold on Pat being a rotation player his first year in the NBA. Pat has some really good skills. Passing, a good-looking shot are two good qualities. But his foot speed and leaping ability is not great. Is he another Jahlil Okafor? I thought Jahlil would have been an NBA star for several years and it didn't happen.

GoDuke!
 
jv001 said:
Pat may need it, but will he take it? If he gets feedback from the NBA that he's almost certain to go in the top 10-15 players, he will do like most youngsters and take the NBA route. I'm not sold on Pat being a rotation player his first year in the NBA. Pat has some really good skills. Passing, a good-looking shot are two good qualities. But his foot speed and leaping ability is not great. Is he another Jahlil Okafor? I thought Jahlil would have been an NBA star for several years and it didn't happen.

GoDuke!
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Not that it's the only consideration, but Okafor has made more than 20 million dollars ...
 
JGDUKE2008 said:
No he doesn't. In all likleyhood Pat and Evans are long gone. Most likely back are Nik, Wilkins, Boozer, Foster, and Sarr is 50/50 right now
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If Pat truly is "almost certain" to go in the 10-14 range, he absolutely should go. A little less certain if he drops into the bottom part of the first round or into the second, but the mocks I've seen all have him top 20. I'm still a bit surprised by that, but NBA scouts know their stuff, and what they say goes.
 
Understand interest in next year's team, but there is much we don't know at this point. A year ago, did we consider Cedric Coward or Dame Sarr in our roster construction? Duke being the best brand in college basketball allows the staff to do late shopping.

Not to mention we have some great stories to follow with the current team.
 
Kedsy said:
All that said, assuming Khamenia returns to Duke he'd almost certainly receive solid rotation (top 7) minutes. Whether that's a starting role, or a 25+ mpg role off the bench, or an 18-to-24 mpg rotation player role is more murky.
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Agreed, and I'd add that the fact that Nik (while averaging 18.5 mpg this year) has gotten big minutes in some of our biggest games - 24 against Michigan, 34 against Michigan State, 28 against Arkansas, in addition to starting on the road against VT - shows me that Scheyer has plenty of confidence in him, even as game-to-game considerations lead to less playing time in other games.

True, we don't know what next year's roster looks like. But I'd be hard pressed to think of a scenario where there are not quite a few more minutes available for Nik than this year, provided that he makes the most of his opportunity.
 
Right now I'm seeing Big Pat around 26th in NBA MOCKS, EVANS is listed as late first round/ early second round, SARR isn't even in the first round they actually have him in 2027 mocks. If this is the case it would make since for all 3 to come back 2026 is a very deep draft, 2027 isn't as deep.
 
Kedsy said:
don't think it's a lock that either of those guys return to Duke, unless Coach Scheyer tells one of them that they're likely to start
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In many interviews this year, Jon states that the best thing that Duke did in the off-season was to go all-in on those players who are commited Duke. Recognizing that last year is not this year, I don't think that Jon got the returners to re-up by telling them they were likely to start. It's more than that, IMO.
 
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