Another Duke Player Leaves, Adding Pressure to Jon Scheyer’s Tenure

The Duke basketball roster continues to undergo significant changes, and with Tyrese Proctor officially declaring his departure on Friday night, the pressure is intensifying for head coach Jon Scheyer to execute another flawless offseason.

Proctor was one of the key swing players facing a pivotal decision: return for his junior year or pursue a professional career. After extensive conversations with those inside the program and various talent evaluators, he chose the latter—leaving a notable gap in Duke’s backcourt.

The Blue Devils did receive a boost last week when Caleb Foster confirmed he would return for his junior season. However, questions linger about his consistency and reliability after his role diminished from starter to an often-overlooked bench player midway through the year.

Now, the question becomes: can Foster be trusted to lead the offense, or will highly-touted freshman Cayden Boozer be handed the keys to the Blue Devils’ backcourt next season?

The Blue Devils haven’t been heavily linked to many transfer portal targets this offseason, and with the portal closing on Tuesday, it remains uncertain how many more players—if any—will enter their names before the deadline.

Jon Scheyer’s offseason challenges intensified after 5-star recruit Shelton Henderson decommitted and requested a release from his National Letter of Intent. That loss was compounded by 5-star forward Nate Ament committing to Tennessee, as the momentum in his recruitment shifted away from Duke over the past ten days.

Despite the setbacks, Duke still boasts a talented roster for next season, headlined by freshman phenom Cameron Boozer. However, questions remain about where potential impact transfers—like Sion James—might come from, and whether the staff will be able to land a difference-maker through the portal.

There’s growing hope within the program that internal development could be the answer. That starts with Isaiah Evans, whose return could be pivotal. The coaching staff will likely challenge him to expand his game beyond being a lethal three-point shooter and evolve into a more complete player.

Duke is expected to bring back Patrick Ngongba, Darren Harris, and Maliq Brown alongside Caleb Foster, with anticipation building around Evans’ official decision. Still, the Blue Devil faithful are growing uneasy. With a relatively quiet portal strategy so far, fans are left wondering whether Scheyer can piece together a roster strong enough to make a serious push back to the Final Four.