Duke lands ex-Wisconsin star John Blackwell in huge transfer portal get for the Blue Devils

It’s only April, but Jon Scheyer looks like he’s going to have a team capable of making a legitimate Final Four push once again next season.

Former Wisconsin guard John Blackwell committed to join Scheyer at Duke next season, he announced on social media on Tuesday. Blackwell was one of the top players still available in the transfer portal this offseason.

Blackwell spent the past three seasons with the Badgers, and quickly proved himself to be one of the better guards in the Big Ten conference. He averaged 19.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season while earning All-Big Ten honors and leading Wisconsin to its third straight NCAA tournament appearance. Blackwell shot just shy of 39% from behind the arc and attempted more than seven 3-pointers per contest, too. The Badgers went 24-11 last season, but were knocked out of the tournament in the first round.

Advertisement

Blackwell should be able to immediately slide into Duke’s starting lineup next season and provide a veteran presence alongside star guard Cayden Boozer and center Patrick Ngongba, who both announced in recent days that they planned to return to the Blue Devils next season. Both Dame Sarr and Caleb Foster appear to be poised to return, too.

Duke also has the top recruiting class in the country next season with three five-star Rivals.com recruits in Cam Williams, Deron Rippey Jr. and Bryson Howard.

The Blue Devils, who were the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, fell in the Elite Eight to UConn and finished with a 35-3 record.

Advertisement

While a lot can change between now and the start of the season, Scheyer looks like he has a group that is more than capable of not only running the table in the ACC yet again, but making yet another deep NCAA tournament run in a little under a year from now.