Duke lands elite transfer portal guard John Blackwell, and its roster is coming together for next season

Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell (25) reacts during a timeout against the SIU Edwardsville Cougars at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin, on November 17, 2025. (Photo by Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images The Duke Blue Devils probably won’t have a superstar freshman who doubles as the best player in the country for the 2026-27 season like they did the previous two years with Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer. That means Duke has real work to do in the transfer portal this season, and it landed its best piece yet on Wednesday afternoon by nabbing one of the top players available .

John Blackwell committed to Duke in the transfer portal per ESPN after deciding to leave the Wisconsin Badgers after three seasons. Blackwell was a three-star recruit who didn’t even place in the top-200 of the national recruiting rankings entering Wisconsin, but he exploded into one of the best guards in the Big Ten as a sophomore, and then took another step forward as a junior . Wisconsin won 51 games over the last two years and made a pair of NCAA tournament appearances with Blackwell as one of their lead players.

Now he’s set to be the top option on the perimeter after choosing the Blue Devils over interest from Louisville, Illinois, and others. We ranked Blackwell as the 44th best player entering the 2026 NCAA tournament . He averaged 19.

1 points on per game on 59. 3 percent true shooting this year by blending on- and off-ball versatility on offense and showing off a very good three-point shooting stroke and advanced mid-range game. Blackwell made 39 percent of the 241 threes he attempted this past season with 25 percent of those being unassisted, and also made 40 percent of his mid-range shots with more than 70 percent unassisted.