Several 2025-26 Duke basketball players with eligibility remaining have yet to announce whether they'll be in Durham again next season. So, it's tough to accurately gauge how many transfer talents Jon Scheyer and his crew are hoping land for what will be the 38-year-old's fifth season at the helm.
That said, based on recent chatter, it seems that the Blue Devils are eyeing at least a couple of power forwards in the portal. And one of those reported targets, Belmont Bruins redshirt sophomore Drew Scharnowski, may be leaning toward a commitment to Duke, or at least that's what the 247Sports Crystal Ball suggests.
On Saturday afternoon, the first three Crystal Ball predictions in the Scharnowski sweepstakes suddenly appeared. All of them, including one from 247Sports national insider Travis Branham, paint Scheyer's Blue Devils as the frontrunner to come out on top.
Scouting Report on Potential Duke Basketball Prize Drew Scharnowski
After redshirting his first year at Belmont, Scharnowski averaged only 5.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 12.7 minutes per game off the bench across the 2024-25 campaign.
However, as a starter for the Bruins this past season, the 6-foot-9, 230-pounder roughly doubled all of the above numbers while also cementing himself as a top-shelf Missouri Valley Conference defender, as he delivered 1.3 blocks and 0.8 steals per outing, all en route to earning All-MVC First Team and Defensive Team accolades.
"Scharnowski is one of the best defensive and passing bigs in the country and has high-level decision making on both ends," KJ Scouting noted about the former three-star prep out of Burlington Central High School (Ill.). "Scharnowski has great court vision as a passer and has the ability to make strong reads as a connective and top of the key passing hub. Scharnowski is also a strong rim runner who's extremely efficient at the rim and uses his athleticism and length to get to his spots…
"On the defensive end, Scharnowski is a versatile and switchable defender who has strong instincts as a rim protector and switch for steals. There's not many players Scharnowski's height and age with his mix of athleticism, passing, rim protection, efficiency, and defensive versatility…"
It's worth pointing out that new Belmont Bruins head coach Evan Bradds was a first-year Duke basketball assistant under Jon Scheyer this past season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/duke as Duke Basketball Forecasted to Land Athletic Defender.