The men’s 2025 NCAA basketball tournament has concluded, with Florida taking down Houston in a dramatic championship game. However, just a few days prior, Houston found themselves in another dramatic game against a Duke Blue Devils program that has been a staple in the game throughout history.
Duke led by as many as 14, and even found themselves up by six with less than 40 seconds to go, but ultimately choked away the game after a few possessions that third-year coach Jon Scheyer probably wants back.
Freshman sensation Cooper Flagg missed a late go-ahead jumper and committed a suspect, yet crucial, foul that gave Houston their first lead since it was a 6-5 game early in the first half.
With Duke being such a dominant program for decades, they’ve garnered a large mass of haters—who definitely let their voice be heard after such a devastating loss. They said Scheyer can’t hold a flame to the legendary Coach K. They said Flagg doesn’t have the clutch superstar gene. They said Duke’s competitive advantage over their competition is gone now in a world of college sports highlighted by NIL, super conferences and the transfer portal.
“Bluebloods don’t win on reputation alone anymore.”
Well, those haters are in for a rude awakening.
That’s because Jon Scheyer, despite the loss against Houston, is truly one of the brightest minds in the evolving game of college basketball, and although he probably won’t ever reach the same pinnacle as Coach K, he will continue to improve every single year as he’s already done.
It’s also because Duke’s name alone holds an influence that no amount of NIL money or booster perks can replicate. Kids in high school want to play for Duke. High-level players in the transfer portal want to play for Duke.
This prestige creates a team-building formula perfect for sustained success. Bring in top-of-the-line five stars like Cooper Flagg or Paolo Banchero to build around for a year before they go pro, bring in program-type five stars like Tyrese Proctor that can develop and be leaders for multiple years, and use the transfer portal to bring in experienced upperclassmen to supplement as role players.
That strategy doesn’t just work on paper—it showed results this season.
“Scheyer was able to put players together in a very short period of time, and the chemistry was great,” long-time basketball broadcaster Chuck Swirsky told me during a phone call. “And one of the reasons why it was great was because they drank the Kool-Aid on Cooper Flagg and decided to trust riding his coattail.”
That kind of buy-in from a roster full of new faces is rare. And it speaks not just to Flagg’s talent, but to Scheyer’s ability to build belief and unity quickly.
Other competitive programs seem to do one or the other. A school like Kentucky has relied heavily on freshman talent, whereas a school like Auburn relies heavily on acquiring players through the transfer portal. Duke can do both.
This is exactly what we’re going to see play out next season. Yes, Cooper Flagg will be gone, but incoming freshman Cameron Boozer—ranked the 3rd best player in a loaded class of 2025—will be next in line as a dynamic young star that can dominate the college level. His twin brother, 16th ranked recruit Cayden Boozer, projects to be a
cornerstone of the program for multiple years, unlike Cameron who will likely be one-and-done.
5-star forwards Nik Khamenia and Shelton Henderson are on the way to Durham, as well, and can possibly make an impact similar to the one made by freshmen Kon Kneuppel and Khaman Maluach on this season’s Duke team.
We’re still in the early stages of the transfer season for college basketball and no one in the portal has committed to Duke yet, but it’s inevitable that some will soon. It’s also a good sign that no one on the current Duke roster, aside from those who will be declaring for the NBA draft, have said they are leaving via the transfer portal.
That continuity is a rare luxury in today’s college basketball world. While other programs scramble to rebuild their rosters from scratch each offseason, Duke can retool. With returning players who’ve already been through deep tournament runs, elite freshmen arriving with polish beyond their years, another year under Jon Scheyer’s belt, and veterans likely to join via the portal, this team is built to win now and later.
They’ve embraced a changing college basketball landscape without losing their identity.
So the Duke haters can laugh at them now, but the Blue Devils aren’t going anywhere. That stinging loss against Houston will be poetic to look at in retrospect when they’re cutting down the nets when March rolls around again in the coming years.
