Duke men's basketball 2024-25 player review: Caleb Foster - The Chronicle
As the Blue Devils’ season comes to an end, the Blue Zone takes a final look at every player’s performance this year. We’ve already analyzed Cooper Flagg, Isaiah Evans, Khaman Maluach, Tyrese Proctor and Sion James. Next up is sophomore guard Caleb Foster:
Sophomore
6-foot-5
Guard
14.1 MPG, 4.9 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.4 APG
On Dec. 4, then-No. 2-seed Auburn visited Cameron Indoor Stadium for a massive showdown between two of college basketball’s best teams. Looking for answers after some early season struggles, head coach Jon Scheyer decided to promote graduate transfer Sion James to the starting lineup, with Caleb Foster moving to the bench as the corresponding move.
Then, in a March 3 blowout of Wake Forest, 13 different players logged minutes for Duke, but Caleb Foster was not one of them. The guard’s absence seemed odd at the time, as the sophomore had played 15 minutes in a blowout of Florida State just days earlier, yet it also felt like the end of a slow but steady descent for Foster. His struggles had officially taken him from starting point guard to rotation player, then to the end of the bench.
But instead of marking the end to Foster’s season — or even his Blue Devil career — the contest against the Seminoles served as a turning point. Just a game later against North Carolina, the Harrisburg, N.C., native returned to the rotation and provided valuable second-half minutes and strong defense, steadying Duke and sparking a come-from-behind victory. His role continued to grow throughout the remainder of the campaign as he returned to form with secondary ball-handling and stifling on-ball defense
“This thing is an evolution, and the year hadn't gone the way that Caleb or I had both hoped,” Scheyer said after the Blue Devils’ Elite Eight win against Alabama. “But I think the most important thing was our dialogue throughout of just ultimately wanting him to help the team the best that he could, him having an incredible attitude, his family allowing us to coach him.”
Despite the mid-season struggles, Foster found a way to close the season on a positive note. Although he had taken a step back in many statistical categories, the guard’s improved play down the stretch gave a significantly more hopeful outlook for a potential junior season and beyond.
“I couldn't be more proud of him,” Scheyer said. “And that's part of what makes this thing special too is the relationship to be able to hang tough when things aren't going as well.”
If Foster elects to stick around in Durham, it is easy to envision him blossoming into the player Scheyer and Duke fans hoped he could become when he first arrived on campus. While it is unlikely he’ll ever lead the team in scoring, his 6-foot-5 frame and high motor make him a nuisance on defense. With improved confidence and aggressiveness on the other end of the floor, the in-state product could grow into a reliable piece for the 2025-26 squad.
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