{"id":79795,"date":"2026-04-11T14:57:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T14:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79795"},"modified":"2026-04-11T14:57:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T14:57:02","slug":"critical-update-on-dukes-pursuit-of-john-blackwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isport.com.ng\/?p=79795","title":{"rendered":"Critical Update on Duke’s Pursuit of John Blackwell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Critical Update on Duke’s Pursuit of John Blackwell<\/h1>\n
Duke is in contention for Blackwell’s services.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
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So far, the Blue Devils have lost sophomore Darren Harris and freshman Nik Khamenia to the transfer portal. Maliq Brown will also depart, as he has exhausted all of his collegiate eligibility, and Cameron Boozer will almost definitely be declaring for the 2026 NBA Draft as a consensus top-three prospect.<\/p>\n

Duke has remained in contention for Kansas transfer big man Flory Bidunga and Wisconsin transfer guard John Blackwell, the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the transfer portal, respectively, according to\u00a0247Sports.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

It was reported that\u00a0Bidunga will visit Duke<\/u><\/a>\u00a0this weekend, and a major update has been released regarding Blackwell.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
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Wisconsin Transfer Stud John Blackwell Down to Six Schools<\/h2>\n

According to insider Jonathan Givony, the 6’4″ guard is down to six schools in his recruitment: Alabama, Arizona, Duke, Illinois, Louisville, and UCLA. Givony also reported that Blackwell will be taking two visits before committing on May 4, a week before the NBA Combine.<\/p>\n

Blackwell burst onto the scene in 2025-26 as a junior, establishing himself as one of the best scorers in college basketball. The junior averaged 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals a game on 43.0% shooting from the field and 38.9% shooting from three-point range on 7.3 attempts.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The Michigan native tallied 20 points or more in 15 games and scored 30 or more in five for the Badgers this season.<\/p>\n

\n
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Duke in Awkward Spot<\/h2>\n

Despite the\u00a0Blue Devils<\/u><\/a>\u00a0being in contention for these top portal targets, Scheyer and Co. are still in a difficult spot, given that so many pieces from last season’s team have decisions to make, which obviously affects how aggressively Duke can pursue portal talent.<\/p>\n

The coming days should provide much more clarity into which Blue Devils will return and which will depart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Critical Update on Duke’s Pursuit of John Blackwell Duke is in contention for Blackwell’s services. So far, the Blue Devils have lost sophomore Darren Harris and freshman Nik Khamenia to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":79796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1755],"class_list":["post-79795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-john-blackwell"],"yoast_head":"\nCritical Update on Duke's Pursuit of John Blackwell - iSport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So far, the Blue Devils have lost sophomore Darren Harris and freshman Nik Khamenia to the transfer portal. 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