Jon Scheyer will have an entirely new starting five in 2025-26 after the entire starting five from last season's Final Four team departed for the NBA this offseason. After seeing an entire starting group get drafted into the NBA, it's no secret how difficult that will be for Scheyer and his staff to replace.

Beyond that, the rotation in 2025-26 will be extremely young, with most of the offensive load falling on the underslassmen or freshmen. Caleb Foster will start at the point guard spot, but he'll likely be the only upperclassman in the starting lineup.

With such a young Blue Devils' squad in Durham next season, let's take a look at the freshmen who have the clearest path to start on day one.

Now, this conversation starts with Cameron Boozer, who will be a full-time starter for Scheyer once the regular season rolls around. The No. 3 overall 2025 prospect per the 247Sports 2026 Composite Rankings, Boozer is one of the most decorated high school prospects ever. No one consistently won as much as Boozer did at the high school level. The big, along with his twin and fellow Duke freshman, Cayden Boozer, led Christopher Columbus High School to four state championships and a Chipotle Boys National Championship this past season.

Boozer averaged 22.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.5 blocks a game as senior, earning the Gatorade National Boys Player of the Year award. He was also namedMr. Basketball USA in 2025, marking the incoming Blue Devil rookie's second time winning the award. This put him on a list with Lebron James as the only two high school recruits to win the award twice. Boozer also won the award as a sophomore in 2023, becoming the first sophomore to ever receive the honors.

Boozer is a clear starter, but there's one more spot that will likely be for a freshman on day one: small forward.

Aside from Foster and Boozer, sophomore Isaiah Evans will be the starting shooting guard, and sophomore Pat Ngongba will be the starting center, leaving the three spot wide open for the taking. The spot will almost certainly be claimed by either Nik Khamenia or Dame Sarr, two five-star freshmen.

Both are long, athletic wings who defend and shoot the ball at a high level. Khamenia is coming off a gold medal win at the FIBA U19 World Championships with Team USA, an event where Khamenia was a key contributor.

However, the starting spot goes to Sarr as the Italian guard already has pro experience. Playing for FC Barcelona in 2025, Sarr appeared in 15 Euro League games and another 12 in Liga ACB. In that action, he averaged 3.5 points and 1.1 rebounds on 53.7% shooting from the field and 44.8% shooting from three-point range.

Both Khamenia and Sarr are elite 3-and-D options for Scheyer next season, but the nod goes to Sarr as a starter with his professional-level exposure.

It feels like a guarantee that at least two freshmen will start for Duke on day one, but there could be more with Scheyer's elite incoming recruiting class.