Duke Basketball: Intrigue Added to Early-Season Showdown

Caleb Love famously combined for 50 points, including a Final Four game-clinching three, in UNC's wins over the 2021-22 Duke basketball squad in Durham and New Orleans as the Tar Heels spoiled Mike Krzyzewski's retirement festivities.

He's played three times in Cameron Indoor Stadium. And now Love, who grew up a fan of the Blue Devils but never received an offer from Coach K after now-rising-senior Jeremy Roach committed to Duke early in the 2020 recruiting cycle, is set to return to Cameron again next season.

Less than two weeks since decommitting from Michigan due to an admission issue, the 21-year-old Love announced on Tuesday that he is playing his senior season at Arizona. His transfer sets the stage for what figures to be a top-25 matchup when the Wildcats travel to Durham to face the Blue Devils on Nov. 10.

As noted in the following tweet, third-year Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd enjoys a fairly stacked roster and a formidable projected starting lineup, including veterans in the frontcourt and two coveted transfers in the backcourt in Caleb Love and former Alabama point guard Jaden Bradley.

Arizona’s ‘23-24 projected lineup is looking ELITE:

G Jaden Bradley⁰G Caleb Love⁰G Pelle Larsson⁰F Keshad Johnson⁰C Oumar Ballo
⁰Projected Bench: Kylan Boswell, Filip Borovicanin, Dylan Anderson, Tautvilas Tubelis, KJ Lewis, Motiejus Krivas, Henri Veesaar, Paulius… pic.twitter.com/o2JZ1nGsrc
— CBB Content (@CBBcontent) May 30, 2023

The showdown against Arizona is Duke's earliest scheduled regular-season game reported thus far. However, it wouldn't be a surprise if a home bout against a lesser non-conference opponent precedes it and serves as the Blue Devil opener for Jon Scheyer's second year at the helm.

Regarding Scheyer, his Duke basketball program is 2-0 against Caleb Love, who shot 8-for-27 from the field between UNC's two losses to the Blue Devils last season.

Meanwhile, Duke, returning four starters and welcoming four five-star recruits, is a contender to start the season at No. 1 in the country.

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