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Back in Blue
Duke center Patrick Ngongba announces he'll play another season in Durham. What's next for the team's roster build? Plus: Florida and UConn also get returns (kinda), St. John's and Kansas add impact portal players, latest portal entrants and end of an era in the Big East.
Mike Miller
April 21, 2026
Good morning! The transfer portal closes tonight. We’re slowly headed toward the quiet period in college hoops.
But until then, let’s get to the news.
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1. Duke returns a BIG piece for next season
Duke hasn’t been very active in the transfer portal yet. Seems that’s mostly because the Devils are focused on retention.
Big man Patrick Ngongba announced Monday that he’ll return to Durham for his junior season, ensuring the Blue Devils not only have much-needed experience, but their defensive anchor. He ranked ninth, per EvanMiya.com, in defensive rating this season, just behind Tarris Reed and ahead of Morez Johnson Jr. Few players have a larger impact while on the court.
That speaks volumes about his importance to Duke’s 2026-27 outlook.
The 6-11 center averaged 10.1 ppg and 5.8 rpg in nearly 22 minutes a game as an honorable mention All-ACC player. He’ll likely improve on that overall production as a junior, though as Rob Dauster noted in the video above, that’ll also depend on how the rest of Duke’s roster shakes out.
Freshman guard Cayden Boozer also will be back, along with incoming freshmen Deron Rippey Jr., wing Bryson Howard, forwards Sebastian Wilkins and Cam Williams, and center Maxime Meyer. Duke did add Belmont transfer Drew Scharnowski, but are mostly waiting on what guards Caleb Foster, Dame Sarr and Isaiah Evans are planning.
If all three return, that’s 11 scholarship players for 2026-27 (this assumes Cam Boozer does turn pro). Seems probable that even if all three guards return that Duke will probably add at least one more player from the portal.
2. Florida, UConn get (mostly) good news
Duke’s not the only one playing a waiting game. Florida’s waiting for the NBA Draft process. And UConn’s waiting even longer.
