Duke Basketball Roundup

#515 - Duke will return to the Mecca!

The Duke Basketball Roundup is back with Episode 515! On this episode, the Duke Blue Devils appear to be set to take on the Baylor Bears on December 20th at Madison Square Garden. The crew discusses this matchup of two great teams and how it can help fill out Duke’s 2023-2024 schedule. A big time matchup at the Mecca of basketball the week before Christmas? You can’t get much better than that!

We also get into the transfer portal, first by focusing on three Duke players who decided not to enter it: Jaden Schutt, Jaylen Blakes, and Christian Reeves. We look at what each of them can work on in the offseason as well as who their trajectories could resemble from the course of recent Duke Men’s Basketball history.

After the break, Ernest Udeh has hit the transfer portal, and with a couple of current Duke players jumping into the replies of his announcement to start the courting process, we discuss what would be an intriguing addition for the Blue Devils. Duke as of yet has not shown any public interest, but we speculate anyway on how Udeh would fit into the Duke roster.

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#514 - New Dukie, Roach’s Decision, Portal Prospects, and NBA News

The Duke roster got a new addition with Stanford transfer Neil Begovich and while he projects as a practice player, his transfer presents a golden opportunity for the Duke Basketball Roundup gang to chat about Duke's amazing success at holding onto players this off-season. With the portal window due to close in only hours, Duke has not lost a single player to the rush to find greener pastures. The DBR Podcast guys also dive into the decision facing Jeremy Roach. He didn't get invited to any of the NBA combines. Does that mean his only real choice is to return to Durham? And, after the break, the guys give us quick hits on a bunch of Duke topics including JJ Redick eyeing a NBA coaching gig and some of the strange transfer decisions hitting other ACC teams this off-season. 

#513 - Big-man Target and a Shameful Score

The Duke Basketball Roundup dives into the latest big man in the portal getting interest from Jon Scheyer and his staff. His name is Aziz Badaogo and he was a shot-blocking machine last season at Utah Valley. We discuss how he would fit on the 2023-24 Blue Devils and why Duke might interest this young man from Senagal.

After the break, the podcast crew does something unusual... they are critical and disappointed in the Duke basketball team. The NCAA has released its latest Academic Progress Report and Duke hoops scored embarrassingly low. The DBR guys dove into the numbers and they think they know exactly what went wrong and when it happened. Have a listen and let us know if you agree. Write to us at DBRPodcast at gmail dot com.

#512 - Catching up on recruiting!

We are back! It’s been a couple of weeks where due to work and travel we couldn’t get together, but now we have some things to talk about. Sam, Jason, and Donald are here to bring it to you on Episode 512!

Duke lands a top 10 recruit in the Class of 2024 in Isaiah Evans, and we begin by discussing what he brings to the table. There’s a reason people call him Baby Ingram. We then use that to enter a discussion about Cooper Flagg and the potential for him to reclassify into the Class of 2024 to join Evans and Darren Harris.

Next, the transfer portal seemed to be hot, with Duke considering several big men a couple weeks ago. Now, it seems the market has cooled off a bit, with Duke not landing anyone yet. We discuss whether that’s a good thing and if Duke feels confident about the players already on the roster.

After the break, we get into the 2023-24 schedule, and Duke appears to be foregoing some of the more traditional early season tournaments to set up a multi-team event of their own. Except, this one would feature LaSalle, Bucknell, and Southern Indiana. We discuss the fact that while these teams are not going to excite any Duke fans, it could be part of filling out a non-conference schedule that will have some very big opponents.

Finally, we take a few minutes to celebrate the life of Dick Groat, who passed away last Thursday at age 92. He was a legend in two sports, and is revered not just at Duke, but at Pitt as a broadcaster. We send our condolences to Dick’s family as the entire sports world mourns the loss of one of the America’s greatest athletes.

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#511 - Flipping out over Flip and Mgbye-bye

Wow, one of the biggest news hours in Duke history this morning as Kyle Filipowski announced he is running it back for his sophomore season at Duke and then, minutes later, superstar recruit Mackenzie Mgbako said he would be looking for a different school and not coming to Duke. The Duke Basketball Roundup podcast gang is here to break down all of it.

First, they talk about Flip's return, an almost unprecedented thing for Duke as a player eschewed being a first round draft pick so he could come back to school. The podcast looks at historical comparisons for what Duke will return next season and also discusses how Flip can evolve his game this summer to be even better next season.

After the break the guys do a deep dive into Mgbako's decision to go elsewhere. There are no hard feelings here as it just looks like the Duke roster may not have been a good fit for what MM wanted or needed from a college program.  

#510 - Roach’s Future

Jeremy Roach is entering the NBA draft... but is he staying there? The Duke Basketball Roundup has plenty of thoughts and opinions on the decision facing Duke's captain. Should he stay or should he go? And, regardless of what he chooses, how will it impact other Dukies we expect to be on the roster in the 2023-24 season? 

After the break, the guys come back with a conversation about the Nike Hoop Summit. Three future Dukies were in action and, for the first time, we got to see a glimpse of how good Mackenzie Mgbako can be. 

#509 - Dereck Lively departs for NBA...replacement incoming?

Hello Duke fans and welcome to the Duke Basketball...Roundup? YES! With the calendar moving to April, it’s official...we are the Duke Basketball Roundup Podcast! We spend a couple of minutes going through the new name and some of the changes that are forthcoming to the show over the next week as we move to our new home on Podbean.

The main highlight of the show isn’t us however...it’s the announcement that Dereck Lively has decided to depart Duke for the NBA Draft. Jason, Sam, and Donald reflect on the year that D-Live had for the Blue Devils and how they think he will carve out a terrific NBA career. We will always have 8 blocks against UNC, and his defense and motor are going to be something that teams really want in a 5 at the next level.

After the break, with Dereck Lively leaving, Duke is looking at the transfer portal. There are 4 big men out there that are looking at new homes that Duke has either contacted or fans are loosely linking to Duke, and we go through those players and what they bring to the table. In the end, while none of them have Lively’s qualities, Duke is right to try and add them to a team that is looking like one of the best in the country to start the 2023-24 season.

We have a new ⁠Twitter account⁠! Find us on there ⁠@DukeRoundup⁠. We will also have some new landing pages and links coming to you over the next week, but our trusty email address stays the same: DBR Podcast at Gmail dot com. Let us know your thoughts on the new name and any other topics that we can save for an offseason day!

DBR Bites #23 - Mitchell Year 2 loading!

On DBR Bites Episode 23, we have Donald and Sam react to the news that Duke forward Mark Mitchell is returning to Durham for his sophomore season! We discuss how valuable Mitchell’s return will be to this team and what he can improve on in year 2. His return is giving potential DPOY vibes!

We also comment on where he can improve on offense, and how his leadership and motor could serve the incoming freshman class well. Needless to say, we’re excited about Mark Mitchell’s return!

We also get some late breaking news while we’re recording that Kyle Filipowski has won the Kyle Macy Award, an award given to the nation’s top freshman. Flip wins the award over Alabama’s Brandon Miller. It’s a surprise award, but Flip deserves it and we react in real time to him winning this prestigious award. He’s the 5th Blue Devil to win the award, joining Jabari Parker, Brandon Ingram, Marvin Bagley III, and Zion Williamson.

We will be back as soon as the next player announces what they’re going to do, so you should probably look for another episode tomorrow as we close out March!