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Duke Announces Major Roster News After Losing Cooper Flagg

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Escarpio | Last updated Apr 23, 2025 10:13 AM ET

The Duke Blue Devils haven't skipped a beat under the leadership of head coach Jon Scheyer.

College basketball legend Mike Krzyzewski passed the torch to Scheyer a few years ago and the Blue Devils have continued to dominate the ACC, capping off their most recent season with a 35-4 record.

Duke made a run in the NCAA Tournament that was ultimately sealed with a loss to Houston in the Final Four. Before losing to the Cougars, Duke defeated Alabama, Arizona, Baylor and Mount Saint Mary's.

After a successful season for Scheyer and his team, the Blue Devils suffered a draft exodus.

Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor all declared for the 2025 NBA Draft.

While Scheyer may be scouring the transfer portal for their replacements, he received some incredible in-house news.

Former transfer Maliq Brown has elected to return to Duke for another year.

"BIG LIQ NEWS," posted the official social media account of the Duke Blue Devils.

BIG LIQ NEWS ‼️

@MaliqBrown1 pic.twitter.com/KllEVEk0B3
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) April 23, 2025

Brown originally committed to Duke after working through the transfer portal process in the 2024 offseason. He played his first two seasons at the collegiate level with the Syracuse Orange.

This past season at Duke, Brown averaged 2.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. During his three-year college basketball career, Brown has posted 6.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

While Brown didn't have a standout year with the Blue Devils, he will relieve some of the stress of losing Flagg, who led the team in all five statistical categories.

Flagg finished his freshman season with Duke posting 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.

Brown committed to Syracuse from the 2022 high school class. He was ranked as a three-star prospect, listed as the No. 54 power forward and the No. 247 overall player in the nation, per 247Sports.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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