Former five-star recruit announces return to Duke

Duke center Kyle Filipowski announced his return to the men's basketball program in a Tuesday tweet.

"Being at Duke this past year has been such a blessing," he said. "This team, this place. It's been incredible."

"I know you're wondering what comes next. When I committed here, I said I wanted to continue the Duke legacy," he continued. "I said I wanted to help Coach (Jon) Scheyer build a foundation. I said I wanted to leave a legacy of my own. I meant what I said. Same dynasty, new legacy. I'm not done yet. See you next year."

A former five-star recruit out of Wilbraham, Mass., Filipowski committed to the Blue Devils' 2022 class over offers from Ohio State, Syracuse, Indiana, Georgetown, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and North Carolina, among others, according to 247Sports. The seven-foot freshman led Duke in points, rebounds and steals per game during the 2022-23 season.

Forward Mark Mitchell announced he would return for his sophomore season in a late-March tweet. Center Dereck Lively, forward Dariq Whitehead and guard Jeremy Roach declared for the 2023 NBA Draft.

In the second year of Scheyer's tenure, continuity will be vital in keeping the standard of excellence set by former head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Though Duke has had its fair share of one-and-done prospects, the first-year head coach said change is coming to how Duke does business in a February article from the Athletic.

“I feel really good about what we’ve done, and what we’re doing, but going forward, to me, it’s important that we have continuity from season to season,’’ said Scheyer. “From a culture perspective, it’s hard to do in college basketball, but we feel we can do it in a really good way, while still recruiting differently. 

"I don’t think we’ll recruit as many freshmen in a class going forward.’’