Duke’s ambition of becoming an older basketball team, while bringing in the nation’s top batch of incoming freshmen, came closer to reality on Friday. After four seasons at Tulane, guard Sion James stated on social media that he will use his fifth and final season of eligibility to play for the Blue Devils next season if he stays in college.
The 6-6 James has entered the NBA Draft and has until May 29 to withdraw and return to collegiate basketball. His commitment to Duke on Friday makes this seem definite. He is one of 195 players who joined the NBA Draft pool with NCAA eligibility remaining. Despite averaging 14 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and shooting 51% last season at Tulane, James was not invited to either the NBA G League Elite Camp or the NBA Draft Combine, which begin Friday in Chicago.
So James submitted his name in the NCAA Transfer Portal last week with the do not contact tag, indicating that he would initiate contact with possible new schools rather than the coaches reaching out first. Last weekend, James visited Duke.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer sought a seasoned guard for next season’s team, which returns only two players: junior Tyrese Proctor and sophomore Caleb Foster. However, the Blue Devils are overflowing with talent, with 6-9 small forward Cooper Flagg joining them this summer. Flagg is the highest-rated player in the class and is expected to be the top choice in the 2025 NBA Draft. Among the five other incoming freshmen is Africa’s 7-1 center Khaman Maluach, who will compete for Sudan in the Paris Olympics this summer before joining Duke in August. Maluach is also regarded as a top-five talent in the 2025 NBA draft.
James is the third transfer to join Duke for the next season. He joins 6-8 power forward Maliq Brown, who led the ACC in steals as a sophomore and was named to the league’s all-defensive team while at Syracuse last season.
Mason Gillis, who, like James, has a fifth season of NCAA eligibility due to COVID-19 pandemic rules, is joining Duke to finish his career after four years at Purdue. The 6-6 Gillis was named the Big Ten’s sixth man of the year last season after helping Purdue reach the NCAA Tournament final. James comes to Duke with no guarantee of a starting spot. Proctor started 25 of the Blue Devils’ 32 games last season. Foster started 15 of 22 games until his season was cut short in late February due to a stress fracture in his right ankle.
James provides Scheyer and his coaching staff with a highly experienced third ballhandler. The Georgia native started 61 games for Tulane over the last two seasons and has 106 starts in his college career. He is not a dead-eye shooter, having made 47% of his shots in his career and 34.2% on 3-pointers. But he’s a consistent playmaker, averaging 3.0 assists and 1.4 turnovers per game as a college player.
James had one or zero turnovers in 22 of his 30 Tulane games last season. This is when playing 36.8 minutes per game. Last season, when sharpshooting Jared McCain and reliable captain Jeremy Roach joined Foster and Proctor as Duke’s best guards, Scheyer used a three-guard starting lineup, rotating them in and out. He frequently stated that he had six starters since any three of those four might join forwards Kyle Filipowski and Mark Mitchell in the starting lineup.
With Flagg, Brown, and Maluach as Duke’s three high-quality big men, a two-guard lineup will be more appropriate for next season. Scheyer has three guards that might start: Proctor, Foster, and James.
