2024-25

Season Overview

The 2024-25 Duke Blue Devils were the best team in college basketball for 39 minutes and 27 seconds of their final game. Then they became the sport's most devastating cautionary tale about how March doesn't care about talent, rankings, or win probability.

The season began with a near-complete roster overhaul. After the program-record transfer portal exodus of spring 2024, only Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster returned as scholarship players who had scored a point. Scheyer rebuilt through the transfer portal (Maliq Brown from Syracuse, Sion James from Tulane, Mason Gillis from Purdue, Cameron Sheffield from Rice) and a recruiting class headlined by the most hyped freshman prospect since Zion Williamson: Cooper Flagg.

Flagg, a 6-9 forward from Newport, Maine, via Montverde Academy, had reclassified from the Class of 2025 and was the unanimous #1 recruit in the country. He'd been named to the 2024 USA Basketball Men's Select Team to train alongside NBA players preparing for the Paris Olympics — the only teenager and first collegian since 2013. At 17, he was already being discussed as the probable #1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He arrived at Duke carrying expectations that rivaled Zion's — and met them.

Flagg scored 18 in his debut against Maine, dropped 26 and 11 in a close loss to Kentucky at the Champions Classic, and put up 24 and three blocks in a 14-point win over Arizona. A loss at Kansas — where Flagg had five turnovers including one on a potential go-ahead possession with 48 seconds left — was Duke's second and final regular-season loss away from Cameron. From there, Duke went on a tear. They finished 17-0 at Cameron Indoor Stadium and 19-1 in ACC play, winning the regular-season championship by a wide margin.

Kon Knueppel, a 6-7 freshman from Milwaukee via the same Wisconsin basketball circles that produced Jalen Johnson, emerged as Duke's second-most important player — a floor-spacer, playmaker, and relentless competitor who shot 37.9% from three and routinely dove for loose balls in games already decided. Khaman Maluach, the 7-2 South Sudanese center, provided elite rim protection and finished at 71.2% from the field. Proctor, in his third year, matured into a reliable scorer and defender. Brown, the Syracuse transfer, was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and ACC Sixth Man of the Year.

The rivalry with North Carolina was one-sided for the first time in years. Duke beat UNC 87-70 at Cameron on February 1 — Flagg had 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, becoming just the third Duke player to post a 20/7/7 line against the Tar Heels. On Senior Night at Cameron on March 8, Duke won 76-61, with Flagg overcoming three first-half fouls to post a season-high four blocks. The Blue Devils had now won five straight in the rivalry.

Flagg won every major award: ACC Player of the Year, ACC Rookie of the Year (the fifth Duke freshman to sweep both, after Okafor, Bagley, Williamson, and now Flagg), the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, and consensus first-team All-American. His 709 points ranked third among Duke freshmen all-time. He set Duke's freshman record for free throws made (179). His 12 ACC Rookie of the Week selections set a conference record. He was a 12-time weekly award winner and the only player in ACC history to sweep both weekly awards five times in one season.

Duke entered the ACC Tournament as the #1 seed and immediately lost Flagg to an ankle sprain in the quarterfinal against Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils won that game 78-70 anyway, then faced UNC in the semifinals without Flagg or Maliq Brown. Duke led by 24 in the first half before UNC mounted a furious 23-point comeback, pulling within one at 72-71 with 32 seconds left. UNC's Ven-Allen Lubin went to the free-throw line with a chance to give the Tar Heels the lead — but missed the first, and Jae'Lyn Withers committed a lane violation on the second, wiping it off. Knueppel hit two free throws. Lubin's desperation three at the buzzer missed. Duke 74, UNC 71. First 3-0 sweep of UNC since 2001-02.

Duke beat Louisville 73-62 in the championship game — again without Flagg — behind Proctor's 19 points on six three-pointers and Knueppel's 18. The program's 23rd ACC Tournament title, the most in conference history.

As the #1 seed in the East Region, Duke rolled through the NCAA Tournament. Mount St. Mary's fell 93-49 (Flagg: 18 pts, two-handed dunk highlight). Baylor fell 89-66 (Flagg: 18/9/6). Arizona fell 100-93 in a thrilling Sweet 16 rematch (Flagg: 22/4/4/3 steals, including 3-of-4 from three against the nation's #1 defense). Alabama fell 85-65 in the Elite Eight (Flagg: 16/9 with suffocating defense that held the country's best offense to 65 points). Duke was averaging 91.8 points per tournament game. They were the #1 overall seed, the #1 adjusted offense in the country, and the #1 adjusted defense. They were headed to the Final Four.

On April 5, 2025, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Duke faced #1-seed Houston with a national championship game berth at stake. Flagg had won the Wooden Award hours earlier. The coronation was supposed to be Monday night.

For 30 minutes, it looked exactly like it should. Duke led 34-28 at halftime behind Flagg and Knueppel. In the second half, Duke extended the lead to 14 — 56-42 with 11:54 remaining. Flagg was everywhere: scoring, passing, blocking shots, rebounding. He was having the kind of game that ends with confetti and net-cutting.

Then Duke stopped scoring.

One field goal in the final 10 minutes and 31 seconds. One. The nation's #1 offense, the team averaging 83.7 points per game, produced a single basket in over ten minutes of basketball. Houston chipped away. Still, with 2:30 remaining, Duke's win probability was 97.1%. They led 64-55.

With 1:14 left, Duke led 67-61 and had the ball. A Knueppel free throw on a technical foul pushed it to 67-61. Then everything collapsed — in exactly 33 seconds.

Emanuel Sharp hit a three-pointer from the right wing after Flagg and Sion James miscommunicated on a ball-screen switch: 67-64. Duke's inbound pass was knocked away by Mylik Wilson. JoJo Tugler dunked: 67-66. Proctor missed the front end of a one-and-one. Flagg was called for a controversial over-the-back foul on the rebound, sending J'Wan Roberts — a career 58.9% free-throw shooter who'd been practicing 150 foul shots a night — to the line. Roberts made both: Houston 68, Duke 67.

Duke had one last chance. Scheyer drew up the play he wanted: Flagg, with the ball, in space, near the basket. Flagg drove to his spot — a mid-range pull-up jumper about six feet from the rim, the shot he'd hit dozens of times all season. J'Wan Roberts contested it. The ball hit the front of the rim. LJ Cryer made two free throws. Houston 70, Duke 67.

'It's the play coach drew up,' Flagg said afterward, tears in his eyes. 'Took it into the paint. Thought I got my feet set, rose up. Left it short obviously. A shot I'm willing to live with in that scenario.'

Scheyer: 'For the rest of my life, I'll have no regrets with #2 with the ball 6 feet from the basket.'

Flagg finished with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and two steals — the first player since defensive stats became official in 1986 to lead his team in all five categories in a Final Four game. He was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team despite not playing in the championship game.

Houston went on to beat Florida for the national championship. Duke finished 35-4 — one of six teams in program history to win 35+ games, the first since the 2014-15 national champions. They were the first team in ACC history to lead the conference in both scoring offense (83.2 ppg) and scoring defense (62.8 ppg allowed) in the same season. Their opponents shot 38.4% from the field, the best defensive percentage by a Duke team since 1960.

Flagg declared for the NBA Draft and was selected #1 overall by the Dallas Mavericks — the second-youngest #1 pick in draft history behind only LeBron James. Maluach went #10 to the Houston Rockets (traded to Phoenix). Knueppel went in the first round. The Scheyer era had produced its masterpiece — 35 wins, an ACC championship won without its best player, a Final Four, and a freshman who will be remembered as one of the greatest single-season players in college basketball history.

But 33 seconds. 97.1% win probability. One field goal in 10:31. The shot that hit the front of the rim. These are the numbers that will haunt Duke fans the way Allen's floater in 2018 and Love's three in 2022 do — the millimeters between legend and heartbreak, measured in the cruelest sport on earth.

For 30 minutes, this was a coronation. Flagg had won the Wooden Award hours earlier. Duke led by 14 with 11:54 remaining. The nation's #1 offense and #1 defense was cruising to a championship game berth. Then Duke stopped scoring. One field goal in the final 10:31. One. With 2:30 left, Duke's win probability was 97.1%. They led 64-55. With 1:14 left, they led 67-61. Then 33 seconds happened. Emanuel Sharp hit a three after Flagg and James miscommunicated on a switch: 67-64. Wilson knocked away the inbound pass. Tugler dunked: 67-66. Proctor missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Flagg was called for a controversial over-the-back foul on the rebound. Roberts — a career 58.9% free-throw shooter who'd been practicing 150 a night — made both: Houston 68, Duke 67. Flagg drove to his spot on the final possession. Roberts contested. The pull-up jumper hit the front of the rim. Cryer made two free throws. Houston 70, Duke 67. Flagg: 27/7/4/3 blocks/2 steals — the first player since 1986 to lead his team in all five statistical categories in a Final Four game. 'Left it short obviously,' Flagg said, tears in his eyes. 'A shot I'm willing to live with.' Scheyer: 'For the rest of my life, I'll have no regrets with #2 with the ball 6 feet from the basket.'