Duke basketball had a disappointing finish to their 2022-2023 season when they were eliminated in the Round of 32 during the NCAA Tournament. Despite going into the tournament as the fifth seed in the East and the ACC Champions, they fell to Tennessee.

The Blue Devils have higher hopes going into this season as they are the No. 2 ranked team in the AP Top 25 poll to start the year. The only team they rank behind is Kansas basketball. Purdue basketball, Michigan State basketball and Marquette basketball round out the top five teams. A huge reason for their big aspirations for this year is their talent at the guard position.

“We have the four guards, I would put them up against anybody,” Captain Jeremy Roach said at ACC Tipoff. Duke’s backcourt, according to Roach, is the best in the nation — and “it’s not even close,” via The Duke Chronicle.

The senior Roach leads a talented guard group featuring sophomore Tyrese Proctor and freshmen Jared McCain and Caleb Foster. Last season Roach averaged 33.1 minutes, 13.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game while Proctor averaged 29.2 minutes, 9.3 points, 3.2 assists and 3.1 points per game.

Now they add in McCain and Foster, who are both five-star recruits and top five overall recruits at the guard position. Not only will McCain and Foster upgrade the roster, but give Blue Devils fans a couple of exciting young stars to cheer for. They also landed a huge recruit from the class of 2024 coming to Duke in Cooper Flagg.

The Blue Devils open their season Monday with a matchup against Dartmouth.