Best Version of This Duke Basketball Squad Requires 'Aggressive Pat'

Duke Blue Devils On SI approached Duke basketball junior center Patrick Ngongba's locker first following the No. 2-ranked Blue Devils' 113-52 home win over the unranked Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Thursday night. At that point, it must have been obvious to the 6-foot-11, 250-pound Virginia native that he was attracting the most attention from the media, whether he liked it or not, due to his career-high 28 points in helping to power the squad to its blowout victory.

But as one can see from that encounter in the opening seconds of the following video, Ngongba was quick to exhibit his team-first mentality. Initially, he tried to deflect the praise to Blue Devil sophomore point guard Cayden Boozer, who finished the night with a career-high 12 assists to go along with 11 points, three rebounds, and three steals.

"It felt great," Ngongba explained to Duke Blue Devils On SI about his performance after finally accepting the fact that he would be the go-to interview for the media in the locker room. "My teammates, they were giving me the ball where I could score easily. And I feel like I did a good job of finishing and hitting the open shot."

'Green Light' From Duke Basketball Head Coach Jon Scheyer

Evidently, fifth-year Blue Devil head coach Jon Scheyer is on board with the idea of Patrick Ngongba II, who shot 10-for-13 from the field, 2-for-3 from three, and 6-for-10 at the charity stripe against the Chanticleers, continuing to display his expanded offensive toolbox early and often in contests moving forward.

"I think the biggest thing for Pat, we don't want him to feel like he's in a box," Scheyer noted in his postgame press conference after Ngongba had also totaled nine rebounds, one assist, and one block across his team-high 25 minutes as a starter. "He's a traditional big from one standpoint, where he can post and score inside. But he's not a traditional big because he can shoot, he can handle, he can really play-make, as you guys have seen.

"So for me, it's just trying to empower him and give him the green light to do what he feels and sees on the court. He's got amazing instincts. He's always going to be a team guy. And an aggressive Pat is the best version of Duke. And we need to continue to keep him aggressive in that mindset."

Through two games, including the 84-50 season opener home win over the Army Black Knights on Monday night, the 20-year-old Ngongba is leading the Blue Devils with his averages of 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. Plus, he's contributing 1.5 assists, 0.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks per outing while shooting 68.4 percent from the field, 50.0 percent beyond the arc, and 62.5 percent at the foul line.

Ngongba is one of only two players on the Duke basketball roster who have been with the program over two years. The other is senior point guard Caleb Foster.

Last season, after averaging only 10.5 minutes off the bench as a freshman in 2024-25, Ngongba was a full-time starter, averaging 10.1 points, 5.8 boards, 2.0 dimes, and 1.1 blocks across his 21.9 minutes per game on the floor.

The Preseason All-ACC First Team big man and the rest of Scheyer's deeply talented 2026-27 Blue Devils (2-0, 0-0 ACC) are now gearing up for their Champions Classic clash against the No. 6 Michigan State Spartans (2-0, 0-0 ACC) in Chicago's United Center at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday (ESPN).

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