4 Duke Players Who Won't Be Back Next Season

4. Jeremy Roach

Roach is the most intriguing player on the list. He could return for one more year at Duke if he wanted, and he'd undoubtedly enter the new season considered one of the nation's best guards. However, he's tested the NBA waters before and could make the jump this year given how much his three-point shot improved over the course of the year.

Despite struggling towards the end of the campaign, Roach still averaged 14.0 points per game while shooting 42.9% from beyond the arc, a big improvement from his previous career-high of 34.3%. He's a trusted floor general and helped lead the Blue Devils to the Final Four in 2022 as a sophomore, so he can be trusted in big moments as well with a variety of teammates.

This is considered one of the weakest NBA draft classes in recent memory. It'd be easier for Roach to sneak into the first round this year than next year, when he'd be a year older and facing stiffer competition. Thus, this may represent his best chance to hear his name called within the first 30 picks.

While Filipowski and McCain can reasonably be expected to go in the top 20 or 25 picks, Roach faces a tougher road. With the spike of NIL money in college athletics, it could behoove him to stick around for one more year as the face of the program.

That being said, he'll turn 23 in November and unless he takes on a larger scoring and playmaking role, it's hard to imagine him becoming a better prospect than he is now.

I'd bet that he goes to the draft as Duke turns over a mostly new roster next year, but it's still possible that Roach chooses to come back for one more season.

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