Duke Players Are Sending Two Clear Messages On The Brotherhood Podcast

Buzz is growing around two Blue Devil newcomers

There’s an old, often paraphrased adage that, “Once may be chance, and twice may be coincidence, but three times is a pattern.” If that’s the case then there are some clear patterns emerging out of Durham, coming from the very mouths of the Duke players on The Brotherhood podcast.

The first is perhaps not overly surprising, but nonetheless encouraging: nearly every player on the podcast has singled out transfer Maliq Brown as arguably the best defender on the team. Brown’s defensive acumen was well established, having been a member of the ACC All Defensive Team last season at Syracuse, which was a primary reason Jon Scheyer targeted the junior in the portal. Nonetheless, there is always some uncertainty in how a player’s game will translate after a transfer, so knowing that Brown’s knack for getting in passing lanes has traveled with him to Duke is a great sign.

The second is more surprising, and is quickly becoming the storyline of the summer: Kon Knueppel has been uniformly highlighted as the player standing out most in practice. Most recently, Cooper Flagg shouted out Kneuppel’s consistency and unexpected athleticism during summer workouts.

Initially seen as more of a fringe Top 25 recruit, Knueppel ended up challenging fellow Duke freshman Isaiah Evans in some final rankings of the 2024 recruiting class, and is even showing up in the first round of early 2025 mock drafts.

Both developments could be significant in terms of Duke’s rotation this fall. If Brown is indeed a force defensively, it will be hard to keep him off the court given Scheyer’s stated desire to have defense be his team’s identity. That could mean more minutes with Brown playing alongside Khaman Maluach than some have prognosticated, meaning Flagg plays more on the perimeter. On the other hand, creating space for Flagg to operate offensively has also been a focus this offseason: if Knueppel is as polished of a shooter as his teammates are indicating, and his “surprising” athleticism translated to the defensive end, he could have an argument to be in Scheyer’s starting lineup.