The Duke Blue Devils lose a freshman to the college basketball transfer portal after the NCAA Tournament.

Cayden Boozer and the Duke Blue Devils had an impressive 2025-26 college basketball season, finishing the regular season with a 32-2 overall record and 17-1 in conference play, securing the ACC title as well. But after earning the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Duke was upset by No. 2 seed UConn Huskies in the Elite Eight, ending its season.

Boozer had a solid freshman season for the Blue Devils. The former five-star guard out of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami finished the year averaging 7.7 points on 50.0% shooting, along with 2.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. After coming off the bench for most of the season, he earned a larger role when starting guard Caleb Foster went down with an injury late in the year. But while Duke awaits Boozer’s basketball future, another player will be on the move.

Nikolas Khamenia, a 6-foot-8 guard out of Harvard Westlake High School (Studio City, CA), was a five-star prospect in the class of 2025 (247Sports). He ranked as the 15th-best overall prospect in his class, along with the third-best small forward and the fourth-best from the state of California.

During his freshman season in Durham, Khamenia earned a significant role off the bench for Jon Scheyer’s squad. Through 38 games played, he averaged 5.7 points on 44.4% shooting and 3.3 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game. However, on Wednesday, after a disappointing end to the season for the Blue Devils, Khamenia decided it was time for a change, entering his name into the NCAA transfer portal.

“NEWS: Duke’s Nik Khamenia will enter the transfer portal, his agency, Excel Sports, told DraftExpress,” Jonathan Givony of Draft Express wrote on Instagram. “The 6’8 wing was a top-15 recruit in the class of 2025 and a key rotation player this season, averaging 5.7 points in 20 minutes. Will have a huge line of P5 suitors.”

Boozer took notice of his teammate’s departure, reacting to Khamenia’s transfer portal decision with two emojis:

Khamenia is the second Duke player that Scheyer has lost to the transfer portal this week, as sophomore guard Darren Harris will be going elsewhere as well.