While the 2025-26 college basketball season begins to heat up as we approach the month of March, all eyes will be on the Duke Blue Devils’ star players and where they will land in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Freshman forward Cameron Boozer has clearly dominated headlines throughout the season, as many draft analysts believe that he has slowly solidified himself as a top-three pick. However, Boozer is not the only player on the Blue Devils’ roster who has boosted his draft stock this year.

In his most recent 2026 NBA mock draft, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman had the Denver Nuggets selecting center Patrick Ngongba II with the No. 25 pick.

“There will be certain NBA teams drawn to his passing and ability to facilitate from inside the defense, where he anticipates cutting opportunities and moves the ball quickly to shooters,” Wasserman wrote. “Ngongba isn't the most exciting scoring prospect, but between his finishing tools, assisting, rim protection and flashes of shooting range, he has the chance to check an interesting mix of boxes.”

As a four-star prospect coming out of high school, Ngongba was widely considered one of the best centers in the 2024 recruiting class. The Fairfax, VA native was the No. 5-ranked center in his class, as well as the No. 1 player in the state of Virginia, according to 247Sports’ Rankings.

During his freshman season with the Blue Devils, Ngongba would appear in 30 games as the team’s primary center behind 2025 first-round pick Khaman Maluach. Despite this limited role, the highly touted center still managed to average roughly 11 minutes per game, while also averaging four points and three rebounds throughout the 2024-25 season.

However, this would quickly change for Ngongba following Maluach’s departure to the NBA.

This year, as the Blue Devils’ starting center, Ngongba continues to be a consistent playmaker alongside Boozer. Through 25 games played this season, the 19-year-old talent has averaged 10.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and two assists per game. In addition to being one of the three top scorers for Duke, Ngongba continues to prove his consistency by shooting 60 percent from the field.

If the Nuggets ultimately decide to take the standout Blue Devil in the 2026 NBA Draft, Ngongba would be an excellent role player behind star center Nikola Jokic. And with Denver’s current backup, Jonas Valanciunas at 33 years old, Ngongba could fill this role in the foreseeable future.

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