Portal Update: A Late Candidate For Duke?

An interesting situation to say the least

Last season, Duke had a remarkably deep backcourt. Next year? Not so much: only Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster return. Jeremy Roach, Jared McCain, Jaylen Blakes and Jaden Schutt - all the J’s, basically - have departed.

Jon Scheyer and Duke therefor are looking for some portal help in the backcourt. A lot of attention has gone to Sion James, but he has not yet committed. But another surprising possibility may have opened up as Riley Kugel, who started at Florida but committed to Kansas as a portal transfer, has changed his mind and will not be a Jayhawk after all.

Would he be a good fit?

Might be.

He was a starter at Florida as a combo guard but was supplanted in the lineup and came off the bench for the last part of the season.

He wasn’t a great shooter but Duke has some outstanding shooters and scorers next season and he could probably have a better year from the floor, particularly with a lot of talented players to take the pressure off of him.

He’s not really a point guard, but when your rotation has two point guards already, he could be insurance. And either Foster or Proctor is likely to be in the game at any point anyway, so Kugel might not be needed at point very often - but he could probably handle it if asked.

It’s an intriguing option, but we haven’t seen any mention of him considering Duke yet. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on. It’s almost like a second portal opened up.