With men’s college basketball right around the corner, college sports reporter Mat Mlodzinski recently ranked his top-10 players in the ACC ahead of the 2026-27 season. While Duke did have a couple of players recognized, they weren’t as well-represented as fans may have guessed.
The Blue Devils had just two representatives on the list, tied with the University of Miami and trailing Virginia, who led with three. However, Duke did take the top spot with one of their returning players, as Patrick Ngongba was given the nod. A season ago, Ngongba made 28 starts (32 total appearances) as a sophomore and averaged 10.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, two assists, 0.6 steals and 1.1 blocks.
The next player named from Duke was John Blackwell, an incoming transfer from Wisconsin. Blackwell was named the third-best player in the ACC, behind another transfer, Louisville’s Flory Bidunga.
Entering his senior season, Blackwell has proved himself as an accomplished scorer on multiple levels with the Badgers, averaging 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 43% from the field and 38.9% from 3-point range.
