The 2025–26 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blue Devils were led by fourth-year head coach Jon Scheyer, and played their games at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Blue Devils began the season ranked sixth in the AP poll and won their opening game against Texas in the Dick Vitale Invitational. They won their next three games before traveling to New York City to participate in the Champions Classic, where they defeated twenty-fourth ranked Kansas. The team won two more games before facing three straight ranked teams. The Blue Devils defeated twenty-second ranked Arkansas by nine points in Chicago and fifteenth ranked Florida by one point at home in the ACC–SEC Challenge. They rounded out the run by defeating seventh-ranked Michigan State by six points in East Lansing. Duke defeated Lipscomb before suffering their first loss of the season, by just a point, to nineteenth-ranked Texas Tech. The Blue Devils had risen to third in the AP poll at the time of the loss and fell back to sixth after it. They began ACC play with ten straight victories. Over the stretch they faced three ranked teams; Louisville was ranked twentieth for both their meetings and twenty-fourth ranked SMU. Five of the wins were away, and five were at home. The streak included a road trip to California, where the Blue Devils defeated both California and Stanford. The team suffered its first ACC lost on February 7, against rivals and fourteenth-ranked North Carolina. After three more victories, including a ranked win over twentieth-ranked Clemson, Duke's ACC schedule was broken up by a match-up with top ranked Michigan. The Blue Devils were ranked third at the time, and won 68–63 in the neutral site game in Washington, D.C.. The victory propelled Duke to the top of the AP poll, where they would stay for the remainder of the regular season. They finished ACC play with four straight victories, including a win over eleventh-ranked Virginia and a victory in the rivalry re-match against seventeenth ranked North Carolina.
The Blue Devils finished the regular season 29–2 overall and 17–1 in ACC play to finish as regular season champions, successfully defending their title from the previous year. As the top seed in the 2026 ACC tournament, they earned a double-bye into the quarterfinals, where they defeated eight-seed Florida State by one point. They advanced over fifth seed Clemson in the semifinals. They successfully defended their tournament title by defeating second seed and tenth-ranked Virginia in the final, 74–70. The Blue Devils earned the ACC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and were the one-seed, and top overall tournament seed. They were placed in the East region. They defeated sixteen-seed Siena in the first round despite trailing in the second half. They defeated nine-seed TCU in the second round 81–58 to advance to the Sweet 16. There they defeated five-seed and tenth-ranked St. John's 80–75. Their tournament run ended against second-seed and seventh-ranked UConn in the Elite Eight on a 35 foot shot by UConn with just 0.4 seconds left, completing a 19 point comeback for the Huskies. The Blue Devils finished with a final record of 35–3.
Previous season
The Blue Devils finished the 2024–25 season and in ACC play to finish in first place. As the first seed in the ACC Tournament, held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, they earned a bye to the quarterfinals and beat Georgia Tech, 78–70, to advance to the semifinals. There, they defeated North Carolina, 74–71 to advance to the championship game, where they defeated Louisville, 73–62, to win the tournament championship. The championship was their 23rd conference tournament victory in program history. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the East region. There, they defeated Mount St. Mary's, 93–49, in the first round, Baylor, 89–66, in the second round, Arizona, 100–93, in the Sweet Sixteen, and Alabama, 85–65, in the Elite Eight to advance to their first Final Four since the 2021–22 season. In the Final Four, despite leading for nearly the entire game, they ultimately lost to Houston, 70–67, ending their chance at a sixth national championship.
Season The team concluded an undefeated home season, its third of four seasons under Jon Scheyer. It ended the season with 32 consecutive home wins.
Offseason
Departures DeparturesNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometown Reason for departureCooper Flagg2G/F6' 9"195FreshmanNewport, MEDrafted 1st overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2025 NBA draftTyrese Proctor5G6' 6"183JuniorSydney, NSW, AustraliaDrafted 49th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2025 NBA draftKon Knueppel7G/F6' 7"217FreshmanMilwaukee, WIDrafted 4th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2025 NBA draftKhaman Maluach9C7' 2"250FreshmanRumbek, South SudanDrafted 10th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2025 NBA draft, traded to the Phoenix SunsSion James14G6' 6"220Graduate studentSugar Hill, GADrafted 33rd overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2025 NBA draftMason Gillis18F6' 6"225Graduate studentNew Castle, INGraduated, signed with Limburg UnitedNeal Begovich20F6' 9"230Graduate studentSan Francisco, CAGraduatedStanley Borden52C7' 0"241SeniorIstanbul, TurkeyTransferred to UTSASpencer Hubbard55G5' 8"157Graduate studentLos Angeles, CAGraduated
Incoming transfers Incoming transfersNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownPrevious schoolIfeanyi Ufochukwu15C6' 11"240R seniorBenin City, NigeriaRiceJack Scott20G6' 6"210SeniorPelican Island, NJPrinceton
On April 28, 2025, former Washington State guard Cedric Coward announced his commitment to Duke as a graduate transfer while keeping his name in the NBA draft. On May 24, after the draft combine, Coward announced he would remain in the draft and forgo playing at Duke.
Recruiting class 2025 recruiting class
Wilkins reclassified from the class of 2026 to 2025 in committing.
2025 overall class rankings ESPN 1 1 3 1 4 On3 Recruits 1 1 1 3 5 Rivals 3 1 1 2 4 247 Sports 1 1 3 2 6
2026 recruiting class
Boumtje-Boumtje reclassified from the class of 2027 to 2026 in committing.
2026 overall class rankings ESPN 1 1 4 1 5 On3/Rivals Recruits 1 1 4 1 5 247 Sports 1 1 4 1 5
Roster
Schedule and results
Source:
!colspan=9 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=""| Regular season
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Rankings
References