Days after Cedric Coward's commitment, Jon Scheyer's Duke strengthens squad with AAC transfer

Coach Jon Scheyer has been working hard this offseason to strengthen the Duke Blue Devils' team. It will be challenging for the Blue Devils to have a similarly strong roster as they did last season. This is largely because the team lost star players Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach to the 2025 NBA draft.

Flagg is projected to be the first pick in the draft and is one of the highest-regarded NBA prospects in recent years. Knueppel and Maluach are also projected to be top 10 picks. Although those players are not easy to replace, Scheyer and his staff have been working hard in the transfer portal.

The first official commitment the Blue Devils received in the portal was Washington State transfer Cedric Coward, who announced his commitment on Apr. 28. Less than two weeks later, they have a new transfer. On Wednesday, insider Pete Nakos reported that Rice center Ifeanyi Ufochukwu from the American Athletic Conference has signed with Duke.

"BREAKING: Rice transfer center Iffy Ufochukwu has signed with Duke, Pete Nakos reports," Nakos tweeted.

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Ufochukwu will bring size to Duke's roster as he stands 6-foot-11 tall. However, he is inexperienced, only appearing in nine games in his freshman season and 16 as a sophomore. This past season, Ufochukwu decided to redshirt and then entered the transfer portal after the season.

In his most recent season, 2023-24, Ufochukwu did not get much playing time, only appearing for an average of 3.3 minutes per game in 16 games. In those limited minutes, he averaged 1.8 points per game.

Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils need to replace all five of their starters from last season

After a Final Four appearance in the 2025 NCAA tournament, the Blue Devils are heading into next season in a difficult position. They need to replace their entire starting lineup. Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach get the most attention as likely top 10 picks in the 2025 NBA draft.

However, Tyrese Proctor announced on Friday that he is declaring for the NBA draft. Sion James also graduated and will not be returning.

As a result, the Blue Devils will rely on internal growth, transfer portal additions, and incoming recruits to help the team have a strong season. However, it is unlikely that the team will have as much success next season. This could be the most challenging season for Scheyer in his career with the Blue Devils.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Abhimanyu Gupta