NBA decisions have been made as we are getting set to turn the calendar to the month of June. Right now, we have a more clear look at what rosters will be for the 2026-27 college basketball season.

That includes the Duke Blue Devils.

Like other programs, Duke lost some talented players as Cameron Boozer, Isaiah Evans, and Maliq Brown. But they also reloaded in terms of turning in a top recruiting class, bringing in a good transfer portal class, and most importantly, retaining key players. 

Bringing back Dame Sarr, Caleb Foster, Cayden Boozer and Patrick Ngongba could be the biggest key in their success this season. And one outlet pointed to those returns as a big reason why Duke was named an offseason winner. 

Let's look at why that is and what they had to say about the Blue Devils. 

Duke was one of three winners listed by CBS Sports in terms of "retention is king" for programs. They were joined by Florida and Illinois, two teams that also are likely to be in the preseason top five. 

Here is what CBS Sports had to say about the Blue Devils and their situation:

The three biggest winners on the retention front this offseason have been Florida, Illinois and Duke. The Blue Devils have one of the deepest rosters in the sport after bringing back Cayden Boozer, Caleb Foster, and Dame Sarr while also adding one of the best players available in the transfer portal: John Blackwell.

Duke's roster will be strong again and while their will be a lot of youth on it in terms of the incoming freshman class, there are some veterans as well. 

The Blue Devils could lean on Boozer, Foster, Sarr and the addition of Blackwell, especially early in the season and then in March. That's a good core to have as all have a lot of experience, especially the three that have already been in the system. 

Duke's ability to retain these players year after year are starting to be a strong point for Scheyer and his staff.