When Dame Sarr found John Blackwell wide open in the right corner, every fan in Cameron Indoor Stadium knew exactly what was going to happen next. The guard rose and fired, draining the triple for his first points of the Blue Devils’ exhibition against Tennessee. The Crazies roared as Blackwell skipped back on defense.
It was only the Wisconsin transfer’s second game wearing a Duke jersey, but neither Blackwell nor the home crowd needed any more time to feel like he belonged.
There’s always been a special point of pride for Duke men’s basketball in recruiting student-athletes, developing them on and off the court and watching them succeed at whatever comes next. Throughout the first few decades of Mike Krzyzewski’s tenure, Christian Laettner and Grant Hill exemplified this best — four-year Blue Devils who both earned their bachelor’s degree and were selected with the No. 3 overall pick in their respective NBA drafts. Even when college basketball increasingly became a sport dominated by underclassmen, Duke stayed true to its process, all the while adapting to the changes.
Corey Maggette, Luol Deng and Kyrie Irving were the program’s first three “one-and-dones” from 1999 to 2012, and players such as JJ Redick and Kyle Singler flourished in multi-season college careers. When the floodgates of modern recruiting opened, Krzyzewski still managed to foster a culture where student-athletes, no matter how long they stayed in Durham, felt connected to all those who had come before and would follow after: The Brotherhood. But with the transfer portal’s introduction on Oct. 15, 2018, everything changed once again — though it took a few years to see the impact fully realized. As spending four years at one school shifted from the norm to a rarity, Krzyzewski passed the baton to then-associate head coach Jon Scheyer, a four-year Blue Devil himself and the legendary coach’s top recruiter. Immediately, Scheyer got to work. The new head coach announced the addition of graduate transfer Ryan Young from Northwestern in his very first month. And despite spending most of his career in Evanston, Illinois, Young was beloved in his two years at Duke and even becoming the first host of The Brotherhood Podcast. The former center has often been spotted at home games, too, each appearance drawing plenty of cheers from the crowd. The fit was perfect, on and off the court.
In Scheyer’s third year, he struck gold again amidst a sea of roster change. The Blue Devils were remade completely, with Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski departing for the NBA and a stunning seven players leaving via the transfer portal. Helping fill those spots were Maliq Brown and Sion James from Syracuse and Tulane, respectively. Although he began on the bench, James eventually rose to the starting lineup, impressing scouts enough with his shooting, IQ and defensive versatility to be selected 33rd in the 2025 NBA Draft, despite being an afterthought just a year prior.
Brown, meanwhile, became one of the greatest transfers in program history. For two seasons, he terrorized Duke’s opponents with suffocating defense and a freakish ability to occupy passing lanes. In his senior campaign, the big man was awarded the ACC’s Defensive Player of Year and Sixth Man of the Year honors, accolades that led to the San Antonio Spurs drafting Brown with the 44th pick in 2026.
There is no doubt that James and Brown always possessed the talent to reach where they are now — time with Scheyer and his staff did not magically conjure that. However, the high-level coaching and reps they received as Blue Devils helped lead them where they are today.
“Duke prepares you as well as anyone can be prepared. You’ll see it, too,” James told Blackwell on an episode of The Brotherhood Podcast. “You’re playing against NBA guys every single day — and a lot of teams say that, but then we proved it on draft night with five guys getting drafted.”
And of course, the Duke connection doesn’t fade when the player leaves campus; the strength of the culture is easy to observe when the team’s social media accounts post as many highlights of its alumni as it does of its current players. The treatment is no different for former transfers like James and Brown, either. It’s as if they were always Blue Devils — and the fact that their time in Durham was limited only makes the Duke faithful cherish it more.
Under Scheyer, the Blue Devils have approached the transfer portal with the same level of intention it brings to high-school recruiting. Nothing about The Brotherhood has been weakened or diluted by those leaving early or joining late; the point of pride still exists.
Blackwell finished with 18 points against the Volunteers, and five days later, the senior scored 23 at Kansas. The Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, native has taken to his new squad like a fish to water, stirring up even more hype for the upcoming season.
Fellow transfer Drew Scharnowski has been sidelined by a knee injury and is yet to make his Duke debut, but summer practice videos have also been enough for fans to gravitate around the former Belmont forward. But regardless of preseason performances or early ailments, Blackwell and Scharnowski are already Blue Devils — the newest class of players to learn what makes playing for Duke so special.
