What does Nikolas Khamenia bring to Duke Basketball?

The Duke Blue Devils don't rebuild – they reload. Coming off of a 35-4 season (19-1 in ACC play) and a Final Four appearance in 2025, Jon Scheyer's program has not dropped off a bit since the departure of the legendary Coach K.

Last season, Duke had three top-10 picks in the NBA Draft: Cooper Flagg (No. 1, Dallas Mavericks), Kon Knueppel (No. 4, Charlotte Hornets), and Khaman Maluach (No. 10, Phoenix Suns), and this year, they look to finally capture their first championship since Scheyer took over in 2021.

Fans may not have to wait too long, as they are primed to do so this season. Not only do the Blue Devils bring back players like wing Isaiah Evans, point guard Caleb Foster, center Pat Ngongba, and forward Maliq Brown, but they also add an elite class of incoming talent on top of it, providing them with the infrastructure to once again compete for a National Title.

The headliner of the 2025 Duke class is a unanimous five-star forward, Cam Boozer, as well as his brother, point guard Cayden Boozer, the sons of legendary Duke and NBA star Carlos Boozer. Italian wing Dame Sarr, a potential lottery pick from FC Barcelona of Liga ACB, brings positional versatility and high-ceiling offensive ability if the shot falls consistently.

Another key piece of the class is Harvard-Westlake (CA) wing Nikolas Khamenia, a high-IQ jumbo creator at combo forward that can help facilitate an offense from the perimeter as well as provide solid shooting across the floor. Khamenia was a borderline five-star recruit by all services, garnering a 97.81 score on Rivals Industry Ranking. He was the 16th-ranked recruit in the country in 2025, the fourth-ranked small forward, and the fifth-best player in the state of California.

At 6-foot-8, Khamenia has fantastic size for a prospect who will spend time at wing, using his height to see over the defense and make reads from the perimeter. He's a crafty ball handler in the painted area, and is able to finish with either hand near the rim.

Combined with his passing ability, Khamenia is an all-around offensive weapon that will fit flawlessly into Jon Scheyer's offense, which utilizes four-out and five-out concepts as well as relies upon non-point guards to aid in facilitating offense, which is Khamenia's greatest strength as a player.

In addition to all of these attributes, he is a very good shooter, taking advantage of his high release point and making it difficult for opposing players to contest his looks. As previously mentioned, his high-feel style is essentially tailor-made for Scheyer's scheme.

Given the team that Duke has assembled for 2025-26, it would not be a surprise to see them hoist the NABC National Championship Trophy, or to see a player like Khamenia hear his name called in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft.