Ahead of game against Kentucky basketball, these are the Duke freshmen to know this season

Once again, an on-court meeting between the Duke Blue Devils and the Kentucky Wildcats will feature a smattering of elite freshman talent.

But unlike recent times — when that talent was either dispersed evenly, or skewed in Kentucky’s favor — Tuesday night’s meeting in the Champions Classic between Duke and UK will see a clear advantage for the Blue Devils when it comes to first-year players on the floor.

This is almost exclusively the result of Kentucky’s seismic offseason coaching change, when John Calipari left the UK program after 15 seasons to become the head coach at Arkansas. Five of the six high school recruits who were lined up to play at Kentucky this season under Calipari — Somto Cyril, Boogie Fland, Karter Knox, Jayden Quaintance and Billy Richmond — left for other schools following the Calipari to Mark Pope coaching change.

The result is that Kentucky’s three-member freshman class — guards Collin Chandler and Travis Perry, along with forward Trent Noah — pales in comparison to the group of first-year stars that Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has.

The likes of Chandler, Perry and Noah are all viewed as depth pieces on a Kentucky team designed under Pope to attack opponents in waves. But on the other side, Duke will be bringing true, top-level freshman talent to the table Tuesday in Atlanta.

Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel are Duke’s freshman stars

Duke’s six-player freshman class this season was regarded as the best incoming group of first-year players in the nation, per the 247Sports team recruiting rankings.

Five of the six newcomers — Isaiah Evans, Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba II — were rated as five-star prospects. The other, Darren Harris, was a four-star recruit.

How have these highly touted freshmen fared so far?

Flagg, the top-ranked recruit in the 2024 class, is the player you’ve likely heard the most about. The 6-foot-9 Flagg is the presumptive top pick in next year’s NBA draft, and he has displayed his ultra-versatile, all-around ability in Duke’s first two contests against Maine and Army.

Flagg went for 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists against Maine and followed that up on Friday against Army with his first college double-double: 13 points and 11 rebounds. Flagg’s defensive instincts were also on display with three blocks against the Black Knights. Flagg, who has started both of Duke’s games, also stepped out behind the arc and hit a pair of 3-pointers against Army.

During both of Duke’s first two games, Flagg has dealt with cramping issues in the second half.

Maluach, the No. 6 recruit in the 2024 class, was an elite international prospect who was recruited by Kentucky when Calipari was the Cats’ head coach. Maluach’s recruitment included an official visit to Kentucky in February, before he ultimately chose Duke in March.

A native of South Sudan, the 7-foot-2 Maluach started both of Duke’s games against Maine and Army. He had six points, six rebounds and three blocks against Maine and 11 points and a whopping 14 rebounds against Army.

Evans, the No. 14 recruit in the 2024 class, played sparingly for the Blue Devils in their opening two contests. Evans, a 6-foot-6 guard, came off the bench and played seven minutes in the opener against Maine and nine in Duke’s second game against Army.

Knueppel, the No. 18 recruit in the 2024 class, has been a breakout star of the early college basketball season, A 6-foot-7 guard from Wisconsin, Knueppel had 22 points in Duke’s opener against Maine and 15 points against Army.

Knueppel, who started both contests, has made 7 of his 14 shots from 3-point range and 13 of his 23 shots from the field overall. He’s also a major riser in projections for next summer’s NBA draft.

Ngongba, the No. 26 recruit in the 2024 class, is another Duke freshman whose recruitment prominently involved Kentucky. A 6-foot-11 center, Ngongba committed to Duke last November from a group of finalists that also included Kansas State and Kentucky. He took an official visit to UK in September 2023.

Ngongba has missed both of Duke’s games because of a left foot injury, although he’s taken part in pregame warm-up activities. Ngongba suffered injuries to both of his feet in high school, and he had surgery on his right foot last winter. Scheyer has declined to establish a timeline for Ngongba’s Duke debut.

Harris, the No. 39 recruit in the 2024 class, hasn’t been a major factor for Duke through two games. A 6-foot-6 guard, Harris played three minutes off the bench against Maine and seven off the bench against Army. He scored six points against the Black Bears and five against the Black Knights.

Harris and Ngongba were high school teammates at St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Virginia. That’s the same high school attended by class of 2026 recruit Jordan Smith, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard who holds scholarship offers from both Duke and Kentucky.

After Calipari’s exit, what does Duke versus Kentucky recruiting look like?

Whether under the leadership of Mike Krzyzewski or Scheyer, recruiting battles between Duke and Kentucky have always been of interest.

And this was part of the backdrop for Kentucky’s latest recruiting success.

Earlier this month, Pope landed his third commitment in the 2025 recruiting class when four-star point guard Acaden Lewis from Washington, D.C., pledged to become a Wildcat. Lewis committed to UK over a group of finalists that also included Duke and UConn.

Duke was not significantly involved in the recruitments of either of Pope’s two other commits in the 2025 class, guard Jasper Johnson and center Malachi Moreno.

On other side, Scheyer has a four-player recruiting class lined up for 2025. That class is ranked as the best in the country. Kentucky’s is ranked third, with UConn in second.

Leading the way among Duke’s 2025 commits are guard Cayden Boozer and power forward Cameron Boozer, two five-star prospects who are the twin sons of former NBA all-star and Duke basketball legend Carlos Boozer.

As high school juniors, the Boozer twins took an official recruiting visit to Kentucky in September 2023. That trip to Lexington marked the first official visits in each of their recruitments.

When the Boozer twins committed to Scheyer and the Blue Devils in October, it helped clear the way for Lewis to commit to Kentucky.

Duke’s 2025 recruiting group also includes five-star small forward Shelton Henderson (who had Louisville among his final schools) and five-star power forward Nikolas Khamenia. Henderson and Khamenia were both considered early recruiting targets for Pope at Kentucky, but neither player reported a scholarship offer from the Wildcats.

The top priority left on the 2025 recruiting board for UK is five-star power forward Caleb Wilson. While the Atlanta native has both Duke and Kentucky in his top-12 list of schools, the Blue Devils are unlikely to be a factor in his college decision. Wilson took an official visit to Kentucky in September, and the Wildcats have been trending of late in his recruitment.

In addition to Wilson, Kentucky and Duke both have scholarship offers out to two still-uncommitted prospects in the 2025 recruiting class: Guard Brayden Burries and power forward Nate Ament.

There’s also plenty of potential for more Duke versus Kentucky recruiting battles to emerge in the future.

Kentucky has a combined 12 scholarship offers out to prospects in the 2026 and 2027 recruiting classes. Three of these prospects in the 2026 class — guards Brandon McCoy and Smith, along with power forward Miikka Muurinen — also hold scholarship offers from Duke.

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