There will be plenty of new faces in Durham next year as Duke basketball is currently in the midst of multiple transfer portal movements. A number of names from last season’s team will be departing, so the Blue Devils are eyeing replacements at present. One player that’s caught the attention of Duke staff is Koby Brea, a 6-foot-6 sharpshooter who’s played four years for Dayton.
Brea had his best showing with the Flyers last season, where he averaged 11.1 points while leading all Division I players in three-point percentage with 49.8%. The guard’s hot shooting helped Dayton reach a third-place finish in the Atlantic-10 conference (14-4 record, 24-7 overall in the regular season). Entering March Madness as the seventh seed in the West Region, the Flyers made it past the first round before falling to Arizona in their second game.
Once Brea made his transfer portal announcement on Monday, many schools took interest, with Duke being a primary suitor. However, the Blue Devils still have work to do if they want to land the outside sniper. As per Sports Illustrated’s Cam Robertson and insider Zyavier Ricks, other programs interested in Brea include Kentucky, UConn, Villanova, Ohio State, Syracuse and Louisville.
Duke basketball as of late
Brea will reportedly suit up for one of the mentioned schools next season. If he does decide to choose Duke, he’ll be joining one of the more efficient offensive teams in college, as seen in the past year. Last season, the Blue Devils shot 37.7% from deep as a team — 15th overall in the entire NCAA. In addition, Duke scored no less than 70 points in all but three regular-season games. The Blue Devils made the postseason tournament as a fourth seed. Led by center Kyle Filipowski and guard Jared McCain, Duke managed an Elite Eight appearance to finish off their campaign.
However, Filipowski and McCain have declared for the NBA draft. To make things more complicated for head coach Jon Scheyer, six Blue Devils have decided to test the waters of the transfer portal: Jeremy Roach, Jaylen Blakes, Mark Mitchell, Jaden Schutt, Christian Reeves and TJ Power.
Roach and Mitchell, in particular, were the third and fourth leading scorers for the team (respectively) last season behind Filipowski and McCain. With Tyrese Proctor as the only remaining starter, Duke’s new recruits could immediately be thrown in the fire on their first playing year. Luckily for the team, the incoming youth are promising. Headlining the Blue Devils’ commits for 2024 is the country’s number one prospect, Cooper Flagg. Furthermore, Duke basketball’s other recruits are all rated either five or four stars by various outlets.
It’ll be interesting to see the overall makeup of the team this coming season. With the revamp in motion, Duke surely hopes that Koby Brea will be their go-to sniper come November.
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