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The Duke Blue Devils (6-0) complete Brotherhood Run Weekend with a matchup against the Howard Bison in Cameron on Sunday afternoon, with a start time of 4pm ET, to watch or stream on the ACC Network (streaming link, listen, live stats). This is a homecoming for head coach Kenneth Blakeney, as well as recently hired assistant coach Nate James.
www.espn.com
Once again, the TV announcers will be Evan Lepler (Wake Forest grad; profile), Dan Bonner (Virginia basketball, profile), and Jim Boeheim (Syracuse basketball; website).
(source)
Coach Blakeney (bio) was known as Kenny Blakeney when he played Duke basketball from 1991 to 1995, part of a unique graduating class (also mine) that, more than any other in the modern era of the men's hoops program, experienced both the highest highs and the lowest lows. He has never coached at Duke, but his resume was frequently Duke-adjacent. Lefty Driesell hired him right out of college as an assistant at James Madison from 1995-1996. Blakeney also served two stints at Delaware, the first (1997-2000) under Mike Brey and the second (2002-2006) under David Henderson. He later coached at Harvard (2007-2011) under Tommy Amaker.
Howard is his first head coaching job; he was hired in 2019, so this is his 7th season. His teams play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), and have reached the NCAA Tournament twice, in 2023 and 2024. He's always had a fellow Blue Devil on his staff, with Tyler Thornton for the first 6 seasons and Nate James now. Five years ago, Coach Blakeney spoke to HBCU Grad about his Duke experience:
The Bison are coming off an unusual season where they went 12-20 (7-7 MEAC) despite having the conference's Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, Blake Harper. (He's now a sophomore at Creighton. Such is the transfer portal.) With only 3 returners, two of whom combined to play 13 games last season, plus 5 incoming transfers, one redshirt freshman, and 7 true freshmen, this is almost an entirely new roster.
Last year of eligibility
6-4 guard Bryce Harris #34 (24.0 mpg in 7 games for Howard in 2024-25)
6-6 guard Ed Holland III #23 (redshirt; 12.7 mpg at Penn 2023-24)
2 years of eligibility
6-5 guard Ose Okojie #11 (14.0 mpg in 6 games)
6-5 guard Alex Cotton #4 (7.0 mpg at North Texas)
5-11 guard Cam Gillus #2 (30.7 mpg at Lehigh)
6-7 guard Cedric Taylor III #12 (32.6 mpg at Div II Morehouse)
3 years of eligibility
6-5 forward Calvin Robins Jr #21 (10.6 mpg)
4 years of eligibility
6-5 forward Travelle Bryson #32 (4.9 mpg at Vincennes JUCO)
6-5 guard Shane Frazier #5 (2025: unranked; USA/California)
6-8 forward Stefan Isailovic #1 (2025: unranked; Serbia)
6-3 guard Jeremiah Johnson #10 (2025: unranked; USA/Maryland)
6-9 forward Julian Johnson #7 (2025: unranked; USA/North Carolina)
6-10 center Danas Kazakevicius #13 (2025: unranked; Lithuania)
6-0 guard BJ Powell #3 (2025: unranked; USA/North Carolina)
5-10 guard River Smith #9 (2025: unranked; USA/New Jersey)
6-1 guard Isaiah Brown #0 (redshirt; 2024: unranked; USA/New Jersey)
As I mentioned in the Niagara game preview, the Pump Fake Pod did a MAAC/MEAC preview that covered both Niagara and Howard. Go to about the 1:21:20 mark.
I still don't find these guys very quotable, though I do appreciate their willingness to put a spotlight on these conferences. They are generally positive about Coach Blakeney and the program, and believe that the young core of this team can develop into a future force should they stay at Howard.
The coaches and sports information directors who vote in the MEAC preseason poll have higher expectations, predicting the Bison to finish 2nd in the conference. Bryce Harris was named to the preseason All-MEAC first team, while Cam Gillus made the second team and Cedric Taylor III made the third team. (Taylor, unfortunately, has been out with a wrist injury, according to the preview of Saturday's Niagara-Howard game.)
So far the team is 2-3, with wins over Alcorn State and Division II District of Columbia. They opened the season by hosting Missouri and losing by 21 points (88-67: recap, box score, full replay). Bryce Harris had 27 points and Alex Cotton added 20, and together they made 10 three-pointers off 21 attempts. (If you're wondering, former Duke player Mark Mitchell started for Mizzou and had 9 points and 6 rebounds.)
Obviously, it's early in the season, but Harris is averaging 22.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and shooting well, hitting 12 of 23 threes (52.2 percent), 24 of 43 twos (55.8 percent), and 28 of 35 free throws (80 percent). Cotton and Gillus are averaging about 14 and 10 points, respectively; Cotton is making about 45 percent of his threes, shooting at a greater volume than Harris, while Gillus provides nearly 5 assists per game.
Discuss Howard-Duke here.
Howard vs. #5 Duke 11/23/25 - Stream the Game Live - Watch ESPN
Stream the NCAA Men's Basketball Game Howard vs. #5 Duke live from ACCN on Watch ESPN. Live stream on Sunday, November 23, 2025.
Once again, the TV announcers will be Evan Lepler (Wake Forest grad; profile), Dan Bonner (Virginia basketball, profile), and Jim Boeheim (Syracuse basketball; website).
(source)
Coach Blakeney (bio) was known as Kenny Blakeney when he played Duke basketball from 1991 to 1995, part of a unique graduating class (also mine) that, more than any other in the modern era of the men's hoops program, experienced both the highest highs and the lowest lows. He has never coached at Duke, but his resume was frequently Duke-adjacent. Lefty Driesell hired him right out of college as an assistant at James Madison from 1995-1996. Blakeney also served two stints at Delaware, the first (1997-2000) under Mike Brey and the second (2002-2006) under David Henderson. He later coached at Harvard (2007-2011) under Tommy Amaker.
Howard is his first head coaching job; he was hired in 2019, so this is his 7th season. His teams play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), and have reached the NCAA Tournament twice, in 2023 and 2024. He's always had a fellow Blue Devil on his staff, with Tyler Thornton for the first 6 seasons and Nate James now. Five years ago, Coach Blakeney spoke to HBCU Grad about his Duke experience:
The Bison are coming off an unusual season where they went 12-20 (7-7 MEAC) despite having the conference's Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, Blake Harper. (He's now a sophomore at Creighton. Such is the transfer portal.) With only 3 returners, two of whom combined to play 13 games last season, plus 5 incoming transfers, one redshirt freshman, and 7 true freshmen, this is almost an entirely new roster.
Last year of eligibility
6-4 guard Bryce Harris #34 (24.0 mpg in 7 games for Howard in 2024-25)
6-6 guard Ed Holland III #23 (redshirt; 12.7 mpg at Penn 2023-24)
2 years of eligibility
6-5 guard Ose Okojie #11 (14.0 mpg in 6 games)
6-5 guard Alex Cotton #4 (7.0 mpg at North Texas)
5-11 guard Cam Gillus #2 (30.7 mpg at Lehigh)
6-7 guard Cedric Taylor III #12 (32.6 mpg at Div II Morehouse)
3 years of eligibility
6-5 forward Calvin Robins Jr #21 (10.6 mpg)
4 years of eligibility
6-5 forward Travelle Bryson #32 (4.9 mpg at Vincennes JUCO)
6-5 guard Shane Frazier #5 (2025: unranked; USA/California)
6-8 forward Stefan Isailovic #1 (2025: unranked; Serbia)
6-3 guard Jeremiah Johnson #10 (2025: unranked; USA/Maryland)
6-9 forward Julian Johnson #7 (2025: unranked; USA/North Carolina)
6-10 center Danas Kazakevicius #13 (2025: unranked; Lithuania)
6-0 guard BJ Powell #3 (2025: unranked; USA/North Carolina)
5-10 guard River Smith #9 (2025: unranked; USA/New Jersey)
6-1 guard Isaiah Brown #0 (redshirt; 2024: unranked; USA/New Jersey)
As I mentioned in the Niagara game preview, the Pump Fake Pod did a MAAC/MEAC preview that covered both Niagara and Howard. Go to about the 1:21:20 mark.
I still don't find these guys very quotable, though I do appreciate their willingness to put a spotlight on these conferences. They are generally positive about Coach Blakeney and the program, and believe that the young core of this team can develop into a future force should they stay at Howard.
The coaches and sports information directors who vote in the MEAC preseason poll have higher expectations, predicting the Bison to finish 2nd in the conference. Bryce Harris was named to the preseason All-MEAC first team, while Cam Gillus made the second team and Cedric Taylor III made the third team. (Taylor, unfortunately, has been out with a wrist injury, according to the preview of Saturday's Niagara-Howard game.)
So far the team is 2-3, with wins over Alcorn State and Division II District of Columbia. They opened the season by hosting Missouri and losing by 21 points (88-67: recap, box score, full replay). Bryce Harris had 27 points and Alex Cotton added 20, and together they made 10 three-pointers off 21 attempts. (If you're wondering, former Duke player Mark Mitchell started for Mizzou and had 9 points and 6 rebounds.)
Obviously, it's early in the season, but Harris is averaging 22.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and shooting well, hitting 12 of 23 threes (52.2 percent), 24 of 43 twos (55.8 percent), and 28 of 35 free throws (80 percent). Cotton and Gillus are averaging about 14 and 10 points, respectively; Cotton is making about 45 percent of his threes, shooting at a greater volume than Harris, while Gillus provides nearly 5 assists per game.
Discuss Howard-Duke here.
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