Duke just added the kind of transfer that changes the way the rest of college basketball looks at its offseason board.
Former Wisconsin guard John Blackwell has committed to Duke for the 2026-27 season, giving Jon Scheyer one of the top remaining players in the portal and handing the Blue Devils a proven high-level scorer with major-conference production already on the resume.
That commitment matters because Blackwell was not just another name floating through the portal pile. 247Sports ranked him as the No. 1 remaining player in the portal, and his final season at Wisconsin backed that up. He averaged 19.1 points per game in 2025-26, added 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists, and earned third-team All-Big Ten honors. He also shot 38.9% from 3-point range last season, giving Duke a perimeter scorer with both volume and real production against top competition.
For Duke, the fit is easy to see.
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The Blue Devils already had returning guards Cayden Boozer and Caleb Foster in place, with five-star freshman Deron Rippey Jr. joining the backcourt next season. But Blackwell gives Scheyer something a little different: a more established scorer who has already shown he can carry a major offensive load in a power conference. Boozer averaged 7.7 points per game last season and Foster averaged 8.3, while Blackwell arrives after nearly doubling that kind of scoring output.
Blackwell also made it clear he sees the depth as a strength rather than a crowd. “They have four PGs. I would consider myself a point guard…We’re just going to push each other everyday. When you have a deep backcourt like we’re going to have, it’s going to be a matchup nightmare for teams. I’m just so excited to play with those guys and challenge those guys. And they challenge me every single day.”
That quote says a lot about what Duke is trying to build. This is not a one-guard, one-star setup. It is a backcourt designed to overwhelm teams with options, pace and shot creation. Blackwell’s size also matters there. At 6-foot-4, he gives Duke another strong-bodied guard who can score, rebound and handle. 247Sports scouting described him this way: “Blackwell is a strong-bodied guard who made notable strides with his game in each of his three seasons at Wisconsin. He’s not an elite athlete at the rim and can struggle to finish at times, but compensates with his overall skill and intangibles as he’s smart, competitive and tough.”
His recruitment reflected that market. Reports tied Blackwell to schools including UCLA, Louisville, Illinois and Duke before the Blue Devils closed the deal. In other words, this was not some quiet pickup after the music stopped. Duke won an actual fight here.
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It also lands at a useful time for Scheyer. Duke is coming off another season with major expectations, and the Blue Devils are already being treated as one of the teams to beat next year. As of Tuesday night, FanDuel listed Duke and Florida as preseason national title co-favorites at +700. That was before Blackwell had even played a minute in Durham.
The portal is full of players. Very few actually move the national title conversation. John Blackwell does. And on Tuesday, Duke got him.
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