Duke Basketball Wing Dame Sarr Heaps Praise on Newcomer Bryson Howard

Chances are, at least in the early stages of the 2026-27 Duke basketball campaign, freshman guard Bryson Howard will come off the bench. The player ahead of him in what figures to be a deep rotation will likely be sophomore wing Dame Sarr, who started 30 of the 38 games he played for a 2025-26 squad that finished 35-3 overall, captured the ACC Tournament crown, and advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament.

But while competition between the 6-foot-8, 200-pound Sarr and 6-foot-4, 190-pound Howard is surely fierce in practice, it sounds as though the returning ACC All-Defensive Team member and the son of former NBA All-Star Josh Howard have already become close friends as teammates in Durham.

"Man, Bryson, that's my guy, " Sarr explained to Duke Blue Devils On SI at the ACC Tipoff in Charlotte on Wednesday morning. "He's next to me in the locker room. And I just try to talk to him as much as possible because I see how talented he is.

"And I also see the struggles he goes into, the same ones that I went into last year. But like I tell him every time, he's way more ahead than I was. So, I tell him that he's going to be fine. He loves the game. He loves to work. And I'm just a big fan of his game. As much as I can help, you know, I'm here to help him. I feel like he's going to help us win a lot of games."

Duke basketball freshman Bryson Howard — Oct 3, 2026; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Bryson Howard (12) during the Countdown to Craziness at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jon Scheyer's Outlook on Duke Basketball Freshman Class

During fifth-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer's time on the main stage at ACC Tipoff, Duke Blue Devils On SI asked the reigning NABC Coach of the Year and ACC Coach of the Year to point out what has stood out thus far about the personality makeup of Bryson Howard and the Blue Devils' other four scholarship freshmen as a group.

"They've been great to coach," Scheyer said about the collection, which ranked No. 2 in the country as a unit, per 247Sports, with Bryson Howard, a smooth-shooting lefty from Texas who boasts top-shelf athleticism and was the first in the haul to commit to the Blue Devils last fall, individually stacking up No. 23 overall on the 247Sports 2026 Composite.

"I don't know if they're going to have the immediate impact at the level that we've seen," Scheyer added in reference to the likes of Cameron Boozer, Cooper Flagg, and Kon Knueppel coming through the program as one-and-done sensations in the past two years. "I mean, we've seen historic impact with our freshmen. But they're going to be contributors to winning. And they're fortunate they have more experience in the building to look to and where guys can help guide them..."

Dame Sarr, Bryson Howard, and the rest of the Blue Devils tip off their preseason slate in the friendly confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium when they host Belmont at 7 p.m. ET Thursday (ACCNX).

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