ACC TEAM PREVIEW #4 DUKE BLUE DEVILS

Jon Scheyer enters his fourth season as head coach since the retirement of Coach K. Per usual, it will be a very different roster this year for the Blue Devils. They had three guys from last season's team go in the top ten of the NBA draft: Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Khaman Maluach. They also had Sion James and Tyrese Proctor selected in the second round. Duke was easily the best team in the conference last season. They had a 19-1 record in ACC play and made a final four appearance.

Projected Lineup:

G Cayden Boozer

G Isaiah Evans

G Dame Sarr

F Cameron Boozer

F Patrick Ngbonga

Duke comes into this season with the number one overall recruiting class, highlighted by the third-ranked recruit Cameron Boozer. The class also includes his twin brother, Cayden Boozer, a four-star recruit who should get most of the point guard duties along with Caleb Foster, who returns from last season. There are two other five-star recruits coming in, Nikolas Khamenia and Dame Sarr. Khamenia is the 15th-ranked recruit in the class, and Sarr, who comes over after playing last season in Italy, is arguably the best incoming international player in the country.

Duke brings back three players who were in the rotation last season: Isaiah Evans, Patrick Ngbonga, and Caleb Foster. There isn't a more obvious incoming breakout season than Isaiah Evans. He got limited play time last season but his outstanding shooting ability was still there, as he shot over 41% from three last year. Ngbonga and Foster are both in similar situations, good numbers in limited playing time, and will both have a much bigger role this season.

It's a young team, but no other ACC squad has anywhere close to as much talent as Duke has. I don't know if they go 19-1 again, but Duke is my clear pick as the early favorite to win the conference next season.

Prediction: 1st in ACC