Popular college basketball analytics website KenPom released its 2024-25 preseason rankings this week, and the Duke Blue Devils start the year second in the site’s adjusted efficiency margin.
With a loaded freshman class including Cooper Flagg, the top player in the country, and three other five-stars, head coach Jon Scheyer assembled one of the deepest rosters in the country.
Returning starters Tyrese Proctor (10.5 points and a team-high 3.7 assists last season) and Caleb Foster (7.7 points, 40.6% 3PT) should anchor one of the most explosive offenses in the country. Those two said on The Brotherhood Podcast earlier this summer that the Blue Devils want to play with more tempo in 2024-25, and KenPom credits Duke as the seventh-best offense in the nation.
The real selling point, however, is the defense. Flagg and South Sudanese 7-footer Khaman Maluach, who represented his country at the Olympic Games in Paris, should both be among the best defenders in the ACC immediately, and Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown gets high praise from his teammates and coaches.
KenPom considers Duke the third-best defense in the country, meaning the Blue Devils are one of four teams within the top 10 on both sides of the ball (Houston Cougars, Auburn Tigers, and Kansas Jayhawks).
Houston was the only team ranked above the Blue Devils, but the Cougars have the top spot by a considerable margin. The gap between Houston and Duke in second is smaller than the distance between Duke and seventh-ranked Iowa State.
The Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Connecticut Huskies took the remaining spots in the top five.
