The Duke University basketball team is quickly learning the harsh realities of college basketball.
Gone are the days when players could grow within a program and fans could get to know, love and appreciate them. It's all about instant gratification of playtime and money for players, and you can't blame them.
The NCAA is to blame for failing to regulate the transfer portal and NIL rules over the past two seasons, and that reality has finally hit Durham.
While not a single player transferred from the program last season, Duke has seen seven players enter the transfer portal since the end of the season. A total of 10 players will not return next season, including players who left the NBA and graduated.
Duke players who entered the portal did so for a variety of reasons, including a lack of playing time, a wealth of talent at certain positions on next year's roster, or a lack of interest from other schools. It was caused by luring the player into the portal. High offer for NIL.
Was there a conversation between Jon Scheyer and the player that entering the transfer portal was the best option for that player? Absolutely, but the roster turnover the Blue Devils have seen this season is the new normal. It is highly likely that
Duke is a leader in college basketball's one-and-done philosophy, and John Scheyer said bringing elite high school talent to Durham is not intended to change the program's recruiting strategy, but rather a new type of one-and-done philosophy. He said he plans to change And Dan's philosophy. We also need to hire new graduates.
Players with only one year of eligibility left are critical to the program's success. Because it's been proven over the past five years that an experienced roster will win his NCAA Tournament.
Scheyer already has a player in Purdue's Mason Gillis, who will be in his final year of eligibility this season, and another offseason addition, Syracuse's Malik Brown, before joining the Blue Devils. He already has two years of experience in ACC basketball.
This idea will be a common theme at Duke University in the coming springs.
There are still three scholarship openings available to the Blue Devils this offseason, and the expectation is that John Scheyer will fill them with more players from the transfer portal. It just starts a cycle of players coming out, coming in, going out, and coming in.
Will it work? It remains to be seen, but it's a new era in college basketball, and Duke is adapting.