John Blackwell Commitment Gives Duke More Firepower with Looming Departures

The Blue Devils are aiming to reload by making a major splash in the transfer portal

Mar 7, 2026; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell (25) celebrates making a basket during the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena. | Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

John Blackwell was arguably the biggest free agent on the market of players confirmed to be playing college basketball next season. Upon his entry into the transfer portal, he was the top target for the Duke basketball team and they were able to get the job done.

On Tuesday, Blackwell committed to the Blue Devils in its first big offseason acquisition after canceling a scheduled visit to Louisville. He visited Duke on Monday, which wrapped up his recruitment.

The addition of the 6-foot-4 guard is not just a major add for the Blue Devils, but he fills a major need with the likely departures of Cameron Boozer and Isaiah Evans to the NBA Draft, the team’s top two scorers.

Blackwell averaged 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game last season for the Badgers on 38.9-percent shooting from 3-point range. Even with the returns of Cayden Boozer, Patrick Ngongba, and others the Duke will need a primary scorer and the Wisconsin transfer has proven he can get the job done when called upon.

In the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments, he averaged 25.0 points over four games, including back-to-back showings of 34 and 31 points against Washington and Illinois in the conference tournament.

Duke hasn’t had a player who transferred into the program lead the team in scoring since the 2012-13 season in which Seth Curry paced the Blue Devils at 17.5 points per game.

John Blackwell’s commitment makes the backcourt crowded with the return of Boozer as well as the arrival of Deron Rippey Jr. Junior guard Caleb Foster has not announced his intentions yet as the transfer portal closed on Tuesday at midnight but players could still enter the portal within the next two days as long as they have informed their compliance staff of their intentions to transfer.