Duke basketball center Ifeanyi Ufochukwu is out for the remainder of the 2025-26 season with a non-contact knee injury he sustained during practice, head coach Jon Scheyer said on Monday, Jan. 12.
The 6-foot-11 graduate student, better known by his nickname “Iffy,” transferred to Duke from Rice ahead of the 2025-26 season. He suffered the season-ending injury in December.
“He had a really unfortunate injury in practice, and he’s out for the season,” Scheyer said on the weekly ACC coaches zoom. “We’re worried about his full recovery, which he’ll be healthy and all that stuff. It’s just going to take a lot of time. Non-contact injury in practice. Really unfortunate, he’s been a great guy for us and he’ll be out for the remainder of the season.”
Ufochukwu appeared in five games for the Blue Devils this season, playing a season-high seven minutes with two points against Niagara on Nov. 21. He played a key role in the scout team for the Blue Devils.
Before arriving in Durham, Ufochukwu played in two of his three seasons at Rice, appearing in 25 games and averaging 3.5 minutes and 2.1 points per game.
Ufochukwu is originally from Benin City, Nigeria, and played high school basketball at Covenant Day School in Matthews, North Carolina, where he averaged 10.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game as a senior.
