“Adversity only makes you better”: Duke fans hopeful as Cameron Boozer, Caleb Foster and teammates put in the work in intense weight training

The Duke men’s basketball team has started their offseason training program to prepare for the 2025-26 season after its disappointing Final Four exit last year.

The program's intense weight room photos on Instagram quickly generated excitement throughout social media. The snaps showed returning guard Caleb Foster and highly touted freshman Cameron Boozer, and several other Blue Devils who were fully committed to the grind.

“Caleb is gonna have a big year this year. Adversity only makes you better,” one fan wrote.

“We boutta have a good season 👏,” another added.

“The Brotherhood 🔥,” a third simply commented.

More fans showed their belief in this new group.

“Now this is the content we wanna see. Love to see all the guys putting in work,” one supporter noted.

“Foster wants it this year more than ever, he’s going to breakout big time,” another fan observed.

“WE DON’T REBUILD. WE RELOAD,” said one fired-up fan.

Last season, Duke came so close to reaching the NCAA championship game but fell short in the Final Four against the Houston Cougars, ending a strong season on a bitter note. The pain from that loss is clearly fueling the returning players, with no starter from last year coming back this season.

The 2025-26 team is expected to be one of the best in the country, with Foster back and looking for a breakout year, and Boozer, one of the top freshmen in the nation, ready to make his college debut. Expectations are sky-high.

Duke’s Maliq Brown talks about head coach Jon Scheyer’s leadership

On July 2, Maliq Brown was on the “Brotherhood Podcast,” hosted by teammate Caleb Foster, and he spoke about their head coach Jon Scheyer. He heaped praises on the coach for the way he treats his players.

“From day one, when he started recruiting me, just you know he’s been the same,” Brown said. “He encourages everybody on the court, even to the walk-ons. I mean he motivates everybody – weight room, on the court, off the court. A guy you definitely want to have in your corner.”

Scheyer has been a Blue Devil from his active playing days, wearing the colors from 2006 to 2010 before returning as an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski in 2013.

He rose to become associate head coach before finally taking the head coach role upon Krzyzewski’s retirement in 2022.

About the author

Babatunde Kolawole is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience in the field with Canoncrested.com, Garbersports.com, LiveScore Bet Nigeria and Pulse Sports Nigeria.

Kolawole studied Agricultural Economics on the tertiary level but delved into sports writing after school. Over half a decade later, the experience garnered helped him land this role.

Historically, the Alabama Crimson Tide stands out as Kolawole's favorite team as he was drawn to their rich history.

As for basketball, JuJu Watkins is Kolawole's favorite current player due to how much diversity she has in her game, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets the nod for past players because of how he dominated with UCLA.

Kolawole has appeared on several TV and Radio shows as a guest analyst, and in his spare time, likes to watch movies (a sucker for the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and listen to a lot of music. He also loves to travel.

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Edited by Gio Vergara