Duke loses second star underclassman one hour after teammate declares for NBA Draft

duke loses second star underclassman one hour after teammate declares for nba draft

Duke Blue Devils center Kyle Filipowski.

Freshman guard Jared McCain announced his exit from Duke on social media, declaring for the NBA Draft late Friday morning.

Just over one hour later, another star Blue Devils underclassman did the same in sophomore center Kyle Filipowski.

Filipowski and McCain were the two leading scorers for Duke during the 2023-24 campaign, averaging 16.4 and 14.3 points per game, respectively.

They were the only two players on the team to start all 36 games for the program (including all four NCAA Tournament contests).

Filipowski was the ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP during the 2022-23 season. He finished the 2023-24 campaign inside the conference’s top 10 in a host of categories, including blocks per game (1.5, fourth), rebounds (8.3, sixth) and field-goal percentage (.505, seventh).

McCain and Filipowski aren’t the only two starters who head coach Jon Scheyer will have to replace in the fall.

The Blue Devils will be losing senior guard Jeremy Roach to graduation. Roach played in all but one of the team’s games this season, making 33 starts and leading the squad in minutes per contest (32.7) and three-point field-goal percentage (.429) while ranking second in assists (3.3) and third in scoring (14.0).

Sophomore forward Mark Mitchell has entered the transfer portal, so he is likely to be gone as well. Mitchell made 32 starts in 33 games this season and was Duke’s second-leading rebounder (6.0 per contest) and fourth-leading scorer (11.6).

The only starter expected to be back for the 2024-25 campaign will be sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor. The Australian led the team in assists per game this season (3.7) across his 32 contests (25 starts).

Despite the significant loss of talent, Duke is expected to be a national title contender again thanks to the arrival of No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, who committed to the Blue Devils in November.

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