Duke basketball schedule 2024-25: Showdowns vs. Kansas, Kentucky lead rankings of prime 5 nonconference video games

Duke opens up the 2024-25 season on Nov. 4 at house in Durham, North Carolina, in opposition to Maine and performs one other sport at Cameron Indoor Stadium vs. Military on Nov. 8 earlier than the difficult a part of its nonconference slate begins with a bang. The Blue Devils will face Kentucky in certainly one of two marquee matchups in a doubleheader (Kansas vs. Michigan State is the opposite) on the State Farm Champions Traditional in an early-season showdown.

Duke additionally has video games vs. Arizona, Kansas, and Auburn earlier than ACC play begins. The Blue Devils additionally face Illinois on Feb. 22 at Madison Sq. Backyard, lower than a month earlier than the NCAA Match ideas off.

The Blue Devils are ranked No. 9 in Gary Parrish’s newest Prime 25 and 1 and enter the season with nationwide title aspirations because of the arrival of five-star ahead Cooper Flagg — the top-ranked participant from the 2024 recruiting cycle, in response to 247Sports. Duke returns Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster from final season’s squad that reached the Elite Eight and added Mason Gillis (Purdue), Maliq Brown (Syracuse) and Sion James (Tulane) to the top-ranked highschool recruiting class that options Flagg, Khaman Maluach, Isaiah Evans, Kon Knueppel, Patrick Ngongba ll and Darren Harris.

The ACC schedule shall be introduced laster, however listed here are the Blue Devils’ prime 5 nonconference video games to stay up for this season.

1. Kansas (Vegas Showdown)

When: Nov. 26, 2024 | The place: T-Cellular Enviornment (Las Vegas)

Kansas enters the season because the possible preseason No. 1 ranked workforce and checked in as Gary Parrish’s top-ranked workforce within the newest Prime 25 and 1. Expectations for Invoice Self and firm shall be as excessive as ever after a disappointing exit within the NCAA Match final spring. After falling to Gonzaga within the second spherical, Kansas loaded up within the switch portal by touchdown former Wisconsin and St. John’s forward AJ Storr, Alabama ahead Rylan Griffen and South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo alongside blue-chip incoming freshmen Flory Bidunga (No. 14 total) and Rakease Passmore (No. 49 total). The Jayhawks additionally return veterans Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams Jr. and Dajuan Harris Jr. Each groups will possible be ranked within the prime 5 when this sport ideas off, and it needs to be the most effective video games of the whole season.

2. at Arizona

When: Nov. 21, 2024 | The place: McKale Heart (Tucson, Arizona)

Caleb Love vs. Duke will perpetually be a field workplace draw. After the Wildcats went to Durham and knocked off Duke final fall, the second leg of the home-and-home collection will go down on the McKale Heart through the opening month of the season. Arizona misplaced 4 starters from final 12 months’s workforce that reached the Candy 16, however the one starter that does return is Love — one of many prime contenders to win Naismith Participant of the 12 months. Tommy Lloyd and firm reloaded by way of the switch portal by touchdown Trey Townsend (Oakland), Tobe Awaka (Tennessee) and Anthony Dell’Orso (Campbell). The Wildcats additionally added four-star ahead Carter Bryant, who will play a big position throughout his freshman marketing campaign. Two breakout stars to look at: Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis.

3. Kentucky (Champions Traditional)

When: Nov. 12, 2024 | The place: State Farm Enviornment (Atlanta)

It is going to be a brand new period within the Bluegrass State this season. John Calipari and each UK scholarship participant from the 2023-24 season is out, and Mark Pope and a new-look roster are in. The most important story of the offseason got here hours earlier than the nationwide title sport when Calipari introduced he was departing his submit to take the vacant job at Arkansas, selling this system to rent Pope — a former beloved participant from Kentucky’s 1996 nationwide title workforce. The Wildcats roster is filled with new faces, and amongst them are Jaxson Robinson (BYU), Amari Williams (Drexel), Lamont Butler (San Diego State), Otega Oweh (Oklahoma), Andrew Carr (Wake Forest) and Koby Brea (Dayton).

4. Illinois

When: Feb. 22, 2025 | The place: Madison Sq. Backyard (New York)

Nonconference video games in February (particularly marquee ones) have turn out to be more and more rarer due to convention realignment. School basketball followers will get a deal with when Duke squares off with Illinois at MSG. Illinois misplaced Terrence Shannon Jr. (NBA Draft) and Coleman Hawkins (switch to Kansas State) from a workforce that reached the Elite Eight for the primary time since 2005 however reloaded by including blue-chip prospects Will Riley, Morez Johnson, Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivišić, the brother of Arkansas huge man Zvonimir Ivišić. Brad Underwood additionally landed former Arizona guard Kylan Boswell and Notre Dame ahead Carey Sales space by way of the switch portal to compete in a new-look Large Ten.

5. vs. Auburn (ACC/SEC Problem)

When: Dec. 4, 2024 | The place: Cameron Indoor Stadium (Durham, North Carolina)

The ACC/SEC Problem shall be a enjoyable one, and one of many prime matchups on the slate is Duke’s conflict with Auburn at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Tigers bowed out of the NCAA Match early with a loss to Yale. Bruce Pearl and firm have eyes on making noise within the new-look SEC after including Georgia Tech ahead Miles Kelly and Furman standout JP Pegues by way of the switch portal. Extra motive for optimism: Auburn returns All-American candidate Johni Broome and has top-30 freshman Tahaad Pettiford coming into this system. Enjoying in entrance of the Cameron Crazies ought to check Auburn forward of SEC play.

Duke 2023-24 nonconference schedule