Published by The Devils Den Podcast, Duke, Duke basketball, Duke athletics, Duke Blue Devils
Listen to The Devil's Den Podcast for all the latest news and notes surrounding Duke Basketball and Football.
Listen on Apple PodcastsJosh, Dustin, and Raul address some of the latest happenings in Duke basketball. They talk about Javin DeLaurier joining the Duke staff, the Flagg family on Family Feud, and the Michigan game being replaced with Texas Tech. They also break down the latest practice footage released by the Duke Men's Basketball social media team. Then they work together to build a team of former Duke players to participate in The Basketball Tournament -- an event held every summer and made up of alumni teams from various colleges. Duke has never fielded a team in this tournament; who would be on this team if they did?
Josh, Dustin, and Raul are joined by John Watson of thedevilsden.com as well as Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 to discuss the state of the Duke program and college basketball as a whole. Topics discussed include: Duke's recent disappointing tournament exits How close Jon Scheyer really was to taking the Dallas Mavericks job Who Duke might hire if Scheyer does ever leave for the NBA How international players are reshaping the college game Who will emerge as Duke's lead point guard in 2026-27 John Blackwell as a different type of transfer portal player than Duke has brought in the past How Scheyer will manage playing time on this deep, versatile roster Under-the-radar college basketball story lines for the upcoming season Final Four picks
Josh, Dustin, and Raul cover a variety of Duke-related summer topics. First they talk about Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje emerging as a star on the international stage in the U17 World Cup. Does Boumtje-Boumtje's performance alter their expectations for him at Duke? Next they discuss the recent commitment of 2027 forward Kager Knueppel. What does it mean to have yet another Knueppel attending Duke? And which former players does he mostly closely compare to? Lastly, they discuss emerging targets for Duke in the 2027 and 2028 classes. They dig into the possibility of Colton Hiller reclassifying and attending college for two years. Could this become a trend for younger high school and international players?
Josh and Raul discuss Jon Scheyer turning down the Dallas Mavericks job and just how close he was to accepting it. Does the buzz around Scheyer in NBA circles affect their view of how long he might stay at Duke? Then they react to the 2026 NBA Draft. Topics include: Whether Cam Boozer should have gone #1 Boozer's fit in Memphis What Memphis might look like in a post-Ja Morant era. [Note: This episode was recorded before Ja Morant was traded from Memphis to Portland.] Whether Isaiah Evans falling to the 2nd round means he should have returned to Duke Why Minnesota might be the ideal fit for his skillset Maliq Brown being one of the "surprise" picks of the draft at #44 How Brown's defensive versatility can help San Antonio when Wembanyama is off the floor
Josh, Dustin, and Raul begin the episode with a little post-championship Knicks talk before taking a close look at Duke's stacked, versatile frontcourt for the 2026-27 season. Topics include: Patrick Ngongba as the most important player on next year's team How many minutes Ngongba can realistically be expected to play The need for Ngongba to get more shot attempts Drew Scharnowski playing the "Maliq Brown role" off the bench The importance of the vertical gravity Scharnowski can provide Whether Cam Williams should be expected to start Why Williams might actually be underrated Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje's movement shooting The battle for minutes between Boumtje-Boumtje and Williams The incredible job Scheyer did to assemble this roster
Josh, Dustin, and Raul discuss the new additions to the Duke Men's Basketball staff, Alexander Powell and KJ Conklin. They explore how Conklin's experience at both the college and NBA level will help him succeed as a Duke assistant coach. They talk about how Scheyer continues to innovate, bringing in Powell to a brand new position as Executive Director of Basketball. Then they take a closer look at Duke's wing rotation for this upcoming season. What areas can Dame Sarr realistically improve upon in his second year? And is Sarr a lock for a starting spot? Where does Sebastian Wilkins fit into this deep Duke rotation? Can Bryson Howard have a freshman Isaiah Evans-like impact as a sparkplug off the bench?
Josh and Raul are joined by Brian Geisinger of 247Sports and the Buzz Beat podcast to break down the expectations for Duke newcomers John Blackwell and Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje. Topics include: Whether Blackwell will operate more on ball or as a movement shooter Blackwell as a screen setter How Duke has made use of similar players to Blackwell under Jon Scheyer Blackwell's midrange game How to evaluate Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje's overseas production Boumtje-Boumtje's shooting ability at his size Areas where Boumtje-Boumtje still needs to develop How Boumtje-Boumtje and Cameron Williams might complement and push each other What year two of Boumtje-Boumtje might look like as more opportunities open up Brian's work can be found at https://briangeisinger.substack.com/
With the news that John Blackwell has pulled out of the NBA Draft and will be playing at Duke next season, Josh, Dustin, and Raul take a look at Duke's loaded backcourt. Topics include: How many point guards does Duke actually have? Will Blackwell be used more on or off the ball next year? How will this abundance of guards affect Duke's style of play? What does the minute distribution look like among the guards? Does Blackwell lead the team in scoring? How will Cayden Boozer's responsibilities shift now that he is finally not playing alongside his brother? How does the Cayden Boozer-Caleb Foster dynamic differ from last year? What is Derron Rippey's best path to earning playing time? Where does this backcourt rank in terms of depth for Duke historically? They then talk briefly about the rumored exhibition game Duke will play against Kansas in Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
Josh, Dustin, and Raul are back to cover an assortment of Duke-related topics: Home-and-home series with Illinois announced Exhibition with Tennessee in the works If Michigan can't secure permission from Big 10 to play on Amazon Prime, who should Duke replace them with? Final 247Sports rankings released for the class of 2026 Why Cam Williams has the clearest path to playing time of the incoming freshmen NBA Draft lottery results Best team fits for Cam Boozer and Isaiah Evans? Duke alumni show out at the NBA Draft Combine John Blackwell performs well in scrimmage Maliq Brown gets invite to work out with Dallas Mavericks
Josh and Raul are joined by Ben Pfeifer of Essentially Sports and Swish Theory to discuss the upcoming NBA Draft, with a focus on Duke prospects Cam Boozer and Isaiah Evans. Topics include: The biggest misconceptions around Cam Boozer's game Best team fits for Boozer Boozer's ceiling as an NBA player Possible question marks around his athleticism and defense The improvements to Isaiah Evans' all-around game as a sophomore Evans' ultimate role in the NBA Best team fits for Evans They also discuss interesting NBA prospects on Duke's 2026-27 roster before touching on the 2026 draft as a whole. You can find Ben's work on his YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@benpfeifer8192, as well on Twitter by searching @bjpf_.
Josh, Dustin, and Raul bring you the latest roster and scheduling news. They talk about Dame Sarr returning to Duke, the commitment of Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje, and Duke's monumental new deal with Amazon Prime. They close by discussing Duke alums in NBA playoffs as well as Cooper Flagg being named Rookie of the Year.
Josh, Dustin, and Raul cover the latest Duke roster news -- from departures to returning players to transfer portal additions. Topics include: What Maliq Brown meant to Duke in his two years with the program Isaiah Evans' decision to declare for the NBA Caleb Foster announcing his return to Duke Foster as the first player to play all four years under Coach Scheyer The impact of year three from Patrick Ngongba Sebastian Wilkins returning to Duke off of a redshirt The portal addition of John Blackwell; what he brings to Duke as a high volume shooter Drew Scharnowski as a physical and athletic big man addition Whether Duke will add anyone else
Josh, Dustin, and Raul react to recent Duke roster news. Topics include: Cayden Boozer announcing his return to Duke Players from last year's team who may join him Possible portal targets Nik Khamenia's transfer to UConn Darren Harris's transfer to Indiana The value of player retention Other factors that cause Duke to use the portal differently than other schools They also touch on the NBA playoffs and Duke players who could make an impact for their teams.
Josh, Dustin, and Raul run through a few of the newsworthy topics around Duke and college basketball as a whole. Topics include: Michigan's win over UConn for the NCAA title The new college basketball landscape, where teams are "bought not built" Whether Duke should switch to a more portal-heavy model UNC's hiring of Michael Malone as head coach Darren Harris's decision to enter the transfer portal Portal targets Duke might pursue Biggest roster needs [Note: This episode was recorded before Nikolas Khamenia entered the transfer portal.]
Josh, Dustin, and Raul react to Duke's devastating 73-72 loss to UConn in the Elite Eight. Topics discussed include: How Duke blew a 19-point lead Costly live-ball turnovers UConn getting into the bonus early in the 2nd half What went wrong on the final play that led to Braylon Mullins' game-winner The trend of blown leads in losses National awards for Jon Scheyer and Cam Boozer Boozer's historic season Draft and portal decisions for various players on the roster
Josh and Dustin react to Duke's 80-75 win over St. John's to advance to their third consecutive Elite Eight.
Josh, Dustin, and Raul preview Duke's Sweet Sixteen matchup versus the St. John's Red Storm. They talk key player matchups, how to beat the St. John's press, the need to control the defensive glass, and the challenges of guarding Zuby Ejiofor. They also discuss a possible Caleb Foster return.
Josh and Dustin react to Duke's 81-58 win over TCU. Topics include: Dustin's impressions from press row The return of Patrick Ngongba How Patrick Ngongba unlocks Cam Boozer Cam Boozer's big 2nd half The officiating "controversy" The press and zone that helped Duke to pull away in the 2nd half Uncharacteristically sloppy passing that led to 17 turnovers The benefits of having five days to rest and prep before the next game The possibility of a Caleb Foster return for the next round Whether St. John's or Kansas was the preferable opponent The Devil's Den Podcast will be back with a full St. John's preview later this week.
Josh, Dustin, and Raul react to Duke's nail-biter win over the Siena Saints. They talk about the challenges Duke faces without Patrick Ngongba and Caleb Foster, and how that is impacting the offense and defense. Then they look ahead to a tough, physical TCU team and highlight the keys to winning with or without Ngongba. They also cover UNC's collapse against VCU, other notable tournament games, and the announcement that Evan Bradds will be Belmont's next head coach.
Josh, Dustin, and Raul deep-dive into the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket, giving their picks for the winners of each region as well as most intriguing matchups and possible sleepers. They also discuss the impact of Pat Ngongba's availability and how long Duke can survive without him. Lastly, they preview Duke's 1st round matchup with the Siena Saints.