Duke basketball's mass exodus continues

Freshman Sean Stewart on Friday became the seventh Duke Blue Devils basketball player from last season's team to enter the transfer portal.

"I am grateful to have fulfilled a dream to play for the Blue Devils!" the 6-foot-9 forward posted on Instagram. 

Stewart, who averaged 2.6 points last season, joins former Duke teammates TJ Power, Jaylen Blakes, Jeremy Roach, Mark Mitchell, Christian Reeves and Jaden Schutt in the transfer portal. 

With seven players looking for new homes — and stars Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski having declared for the NBA Draft — head coach Jon Scheyer's team will look vastly different next season. 

Duke will be losing 84.6% of its minutes and 86.8% of its scoring from last season's team that finished 27-9 and lost to North Carolina State in an Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The only two notable returning members of the team will be guards Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor.

On the 2024-25 Duke team, Foster and Proctor will be joined by 247Sports' top overall recruit Cooper Flagg and third overall recruit Khaman Maluach. The depth pieces will be top-20 recruits Isaiah Harris, Kon Knueppel and Patrick Ngongba II. 

Of the transfers, Roach, Mitchell, Power and Stewart could have started at Duke next season.

Their decisions are indicative of a trend in college sports. Today's players can get paid via NIL and go to a middling power conference team and immediately be a star.

In the past, talented players would choose to be a rotational piece at Duke -- a traditional national power -- and have a shot at competing for a national championship.

In this new era, the idea of being a star at a lower-level team is appealing, especially if the player can get paid via NIL. 

On Friday, Mitchell announced on X, formerly Twitter, his commitment to Missouri, where he will be one of the Tigers' top players.