Duke is all-in on winning this season with freshmen again - ESPN

SUCCEEDING A COACH AS legendary as Mike Krzyzewski isn't easy.

The final decade of Krzyzewski's career featured 24 one-and-done prospects at Duke, including the likes of Jayson Tatum, Zion Williamson, Paolo Banchero.

But Jon Scheyer has barely missed a step, keeping Duke at the top of the recruiting rankings in three of his four years since taking over for Coach K. A season after making a run to the Final Four with a freshmen-fueled roster anchored by NBA No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg, Scheyer is trying to do it again: chase a championship with freshmen leading the way.

It's not a traditional roster model anymore, though. Between the sport becoming increasingly reliant on the transfer portal and the rise of overseas professionals coming to the United States to play college basketball, the best teams in the country are skewing older.

When Kentucky won the title in 2012, for example, the Wildcats started three freshmen and had an average Division I experience of 1.18 years, according to KenPom. UConn's back-to-back championship teams, by contrast, averaged 2.25 years and 2.43 years of experience in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The starting lineups of last year's Final Four teams featured 11 seniors and three freshmen — all from the Blue Devils — with Florida's title-winning roster featuring three senior starters and four transfers with an average experience of 2.44 years.

Though Duke didn't win the title with Flagg, Scheyer did prove there's still room at the top of the sport for young, uber-talented teams reliant on freshmen — and he's banking on that formula carrying the Blue Devils back to another Final Four. This time, he's turning to projected draft lottery pick Cameron Boozer, with the support of Italy native Dame