Duke MBB Scheduling: 2025-26

gumbomoop said:
In what’s now a somewhat-too-early moment, I’d guess Duke and UofL will be preseason consensus 1 and 1a in the ACC.
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I think we should expect Louisville to be good, and while they may finish 2nd, I'm a little skeptical of the near-universal opinion that they are a top 2 ACC team.

LOUISVILLE 2025-26

Last year of eligibility

6-6 guard J'Vonne Hadley (33.1 minutes per game in 2024-25)
6-10 forward Kasean Pryor (23.3 mpg; ACL tear after 7 games)

6-11 center Aly Khalifa (redshirted 2024-25; knee; awaiting appeal of weird NCAA ineligibility)
6-3 guard Kobe Rodgers (redshirted 2024-25; knee)

6-4 guard Ryan Conwell (33.0 mpg at Xavier)
6-4 guard Isaac McKneely (34.4 mpg at Virginia)

2 years of eligibility

(none)

3 years of eligibility

6-8 forward Khani Rooths (13.4 mpg)

6-5 guard Adrian Wooley (33.5 mpg at Kennesaw State)

4 years of eligibility

6-3 guard Mikel Brown Jr (RSCI #11)
6-7 forward Mouhamed Camara
6-11 forward Sananda Fru

SkyBrickey said:
I have no idea how Clemson's roster is looking, but Brownell usually finds a way to field a competitive team.
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Meanwhile, I have low expectations for Clemson because they are practically a new team. Dillon Hunter, a senior with 13 career starts, is the only returning scholarship player who was active last season (freshmen Ace Buckner and Dallas Thomas both redshirted). One of the incoming transfers is a Marfo -- RJ Godfrey went from Clemson to Georgia, then back to Clemson.

CLEMSON 2025-26

Last year of eligibility

6-3 guard Dillon Hunter (22.6 minutes per game in 2024-25)

6-10 post Nick Davidson (33.2 mpg at Nevada)
6-8 forward RJ Godfrey (19.4 mpg at Georgia)
6-4 guard Efrem Johnson (26.8 mpg at UAB)
6-1 guard Jestin Porter (33.7 mpg at Middle Tennessee)

2 years of eligibility

6-10 forward Jake Wahlin (23.5 mpg at Utah)
6-10 forward Carter Welling (24.5 mpg at Utah Valley)

3 years of eligibility

(none)

4 years of eligibility

6-3 guard Ace Buckner (redshirted 2024-25; shoulder)
6-9 forward Dallas Thomas (RSCI #82; redshirted 2024-25; voluntary)

6-9 forward Blake Davidson
6-4 guard Zachary Foster
6-10 post Trent Steinour
6-8 forward Chase Thompson
 
brevity said:
I think we should expect Louisville to be good, and while they may finish 2nd, I'm a little skeptical of the near-universal opinion that they are a top 2 ACC team.

LOUISVILLE 2025-26

Last year of eligibility

6-6 guard J'Vonne Hadley (33.1 minutes per game in 2024-25)
6-10 forward Kasean Pryor (23.3 mpg; ACL tear after 7 games)

6-11 center Aly Khalifa (redshirted 2024-25; knee; awaiting appeal of weird NCAA ineligibility)
6-3 guard Kobe Rodgers (redshirted 2024-25; knee)

6-4 guard Ryan Conwell (33.0 mpg at Xavier)
6-4 guard Isaac McKneely (34.4 mpg at Virginia)

2 years of eligibility

(none)

3 years of eligibility

6-8 forward Khani Rooths (13.4 mpg)

6-5 guard Adrian Wooley (33.5 mpg at Kennesaw State)

4 years of eligibility

6-3 guard Mikel Brown Jr (RSCI #11)
6-7 forward Mouhamed Camara
6-11 forward Sananda Fru



Meanwhile, I have low expectations for Clemson because they are practically a new team. Dillon Hunter, a senior with 13 career starts, is the only returning scholarship player who was active last season (freshmen Ace Buckner and Dallas Thomas both redshirted). One of the incoming transfers is a Marfo -- RJ Godfrey went from Clemson to Georgia, then back to Clemson.

CLEMSON 2025-26

Last year of eligibility

6-3 guard Dillon Hunter (22.6 minutes per game in 2024-25)

6-10 post Nick Davidson (33.2 mpg at Nevada)
6-8 forward RJ Godfrey (19.4 mpg at Georgia)
6-4 guard Efrem Johnson (26.8 mpg at UAB)
6-1 guard Jestin Porter (33.7 mpg at Middle Tennessee)

2 years of eligibility

6-10 forward Jake Wahlin (23.5 mpg at Utah)
6-10 forward Carter Welling (24.5 mpg at Utah Valley)

3 years of eligibility

(none)

4 years of eligibility

6-3 guard Ace Buckner (redshirted 2024-25; shoulder)
6-9 forward Dallas Thomas (RSCI #82; redshirted 2024-25; voluntary)

6-9 forward Blake Davidson
6-4 guard Zachary Foster
6-10 post Trent Steinour
6-8 forward Chase Thompson
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Louisville is absolutely loaded in the backcourt but suspect in the frontcourt. The problem is who to put ahead of them at #2. No other team stands out as better.
 
SkyBrickey said:
Louisville is absolutely loaded in the backcourt but suspect in the frontcourt. The problem is who to put ahead of them at #2. No other team stands out as better.
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Yeah, Aly Khalifa isn't a great player or anything but if the NCAA doesn't restore his eligibility then Louisville is gonna be really thin on the front line. I like Kasean Pryor a lot but he will need some help.

I will tell you that though he has not been highly touted, I've heard some buzz on the German freshman big Sandara Fru. He's got a 7-5 wingspan and is a really nice athlete who has been playing pro ball in Europe for several years. He may be a freshman, but he is 21 years old and is really solid at finishing around the rim.
 
Davidson, the transfer to Clemson from Nevada, is supposed to be very good. But I agree that Brownell doesn't have much continuity on the roster.
 
As we look at the ACC’s ever more unbalanced conference scheduling, many posters rightly focus on Q1-2 opportunities, which is NCAAT-focused. [See Nugget’s post #152 ^ for the Q1-2/NCAAT issue.] I’m admittedly stuck in what’s perhaps an outmoded mindset, thinking about which teams will finish where in conference standings at (regular) season’s end; this may fairly be described as ACCT-focused.

Here, I’m looking at the just-announced ACC Conference Opponents to think about which teams might have the easier ACC schedules. More specifically, I’m looking at teams I’d guess/predict will finish somewhere in the top 8: Duke, UofL, SMU, NCSt, Miami, UNC, Syracuse, ND. (Maybe others will substitute this or that team for 1 or 2 of my list.)

Looking at the unbalanced mish-mashup schedules of my top 8, I’d say NCSt, ND, Miami, and SMU catch some (small?) breaks.

NCSt — The Pack’s 2 H/A opponents are Wake and UVa. They get all of Duke, Miami, UNC (I know....), and Syracuse at home.

Miami — Jai’s New Guys’ 2 H/A opponents are FSU and BC. They do not play Duke.

ND — Irish get BC and Stanford H/A. They play Duke, NCSt, and Miami at home.

SMU — H/A opponents are UofL and FSU. Mustangs get all of NCSt, Miami, UNC, and ND at home.
 
Which idiots in the ACC office decided UNC and NC State would not play twice?

This is the price for letting a bunch of Yankees into the league.
 
Are they doing anything like linking the Cal and Stanford trips, e.g. play one of them on a Saturday, the other one a Monday vs two different trips?
 
HPDevil said:
Which idiots in the ACC office decided UNC and NC State would not play twice?

This is the price for letting a bunch of Yankees into the league.
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Funny how so many folks assumed that was why the ACC was keeping 2 home and homes per team (so UNC could play both Duke and NC State twice). At least that was the reasoning I saw over on IC.
 
MChambers said:
They did last year, right? So I assume they will again.
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Well, they did schedule the games consecutively, but they didn’t seem to alter the traditional Tuesday or Wednesday/Saturday schedule. I know when Wake played out there, they were there for a week. Went a day or two early to adjust to the time zone, and flew home on Sunday.
 
SavDukeGrad said:
Funny how so many folks assumed that was why the ACC was keeping 2 home and homes per team (so UNC could play both Duke and NC State twice). At least that was the reasoning I saw over on IC.
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I think that was a logical assumption, especially with State likely to make a big jump this year. Very strange to me that it didn't turn out that way.

Also strange to me that the league is foregoing a potentially high profile Duke-Miami matchup with Jai there now.
 
budwom said:
Are they doing anything like linking the Cal and Stanford trips, e.g. play one of them on a Saturday, the other one a Monday vs two different trips?
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MChambers said:
They did last year, right? So I assume they will again.
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Yes, the ACC has made a priority of minimizing cross-country travel. From 2024-25, here are the teams that flew out west.

Virginia: at California Wed 1/8, at Stanford Sat 1/11
Virginia Tech: at Stanford Wed 1/8, at California Sat 1/11

Florida State: at California Wed 1/22, at Stanford Sat 1/25
Miami: at Stanford Wed 1/22, at California Sat 1/25

Syracuse: at Stanford Wed 1/29, at California Sat 2/1

NC State: at California Wed 2/5, at Stanford Sat 2/8
Wake Forest: at Stanford Wed 2/5, at California Sat 2/8

SMU: at California Wed 2/26, at Stanford Sat 3/1
Boston College: at Stanford Wed 2/26, at California Sat 3/1

Every ACC game California and Stanford played last season -- even against each other -- was on a Wednesday or Saturday. (Syracuse is not paired that week because both California and Stanford played at SMU on the day they weren't hosting the Orange.)
 
luvdahops said:
Also strange to me that the league is foregoing a potentially high profile Duke-Miami matchup with Jai there now.
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It's possible Jon and Jai requested it. I was figuring FSU (lawsuit) or Pitt (Capel-Jon) would be the game Duke dropped as opposed to Miami.
 
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hallcity said:
They can schedule a nonconference game. I hope they do. I think the General Assembly would intervene if they don’t.
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I think this is a preview of 2030 coming attractions. This series only has interest between South Hill and Rock Hill in all sports just like IN-Purdue isn't a big draw here. The give in this give-and-take was to play the game in Raleigh.
 
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