- As expected under head coach Jon Scheyer, the Duke Blue Devils have once again signed an elite recruiting class, and Nikolas Khamenia is a major reason why. The small forward was a top 20 prospect in the 2025 recruiting class and is expected to make an immediate impact for the Blue Devils.
But before then, he will represent the United States at the FIBA World Cup as part of their U19 team. They are a perfect 6-0 so far and will play Germany in the finals on Sunday. Khamenia is not starting but has been an effective player, averaging 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 steals in 16.2 minutes of action.
He spoke with On3’s Jamie Shaw about his upcoming freshman season with Duke and made it clear he is willing to do whatever it takes to win.
Whatever the team needs to win, honestly,” Khamenia said. “Whether it’s guarding the best players, coming off the bench, starting, being a knock-down shooter, or a guy who facilitates. I think I can put myself in a lot of different situations and be successful with the skills that I bring.”
The 6-foot-8 and 215-pounder is used to winning, leading Harvard-Westlake to back-to-back state championships before enrolling at Duke, and is confident the Blue Devils can keep it going.
“I think we can win a national championship,” Khamenia said about how good they can be. “We still have a lot of size. I will say that we are probably younger than they were last year, but we have a lot of non-conference games that are going to prepare us for March Madness. So, if we continue to learn in the preseason and when the season starts, we play Kansas at Madison Square Garden, Texas in Charlotte, and Michigan State at Michigan State, if we just take it practice by practice and game by game, I think we have a really good chance.
