Duke guard Jeremy Roach has high expectations for the Blue Devils at the NCAA Tournament.
The South Region's No. 4 seed Duke (24-8) had undeniably one of the best 2023 recruiting classes, but the squad’s continued talent and superior depth are what's bringing in the success.
That’s why Roach is hopeful for a solid showing in his last dance.
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“We have really the best — I think the best team in the country just talent-wise,” the senior told NBC. "I mean obviously talent can get you so far, but you gotta compete every day and I think that's just the been the biggest thing for us just competing for all 40 minutes.”
After legendary Mike Krzyzewski, the NCAA men's basketball's winningest coach, retired in 2022, Jon Scheyer stepped up and has been one of the best recruiters the sport has seen. In his first year in the job, he signed on three top-five prospects in the country Kyle Filipowski, Dereck Lively, and Dariq Whitehead. He went on to recruit a dynamite 2024 class led by Jared McCain and Caleb Foster to earn a preseason ranking of the No. 2 team in the country.
It doesn't stop there. Duke’s 2025 class is looking better than ever with the highly anticipated addition of projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft Cooper Flagg, and 7-foot-2 center Khaman Maluach, among others.
Roach is not discouraged about Duke’s last two losses to UNC and NC State, respectively. In fact, he thinks it helped them.
“I mean that’s made us to the team that we are today, I feel like we're the most connected we've been off-season,” Roach said about the two in-state losses. “So it's going into this tournament, we had the most confidence … So we're ready to make this run.
One of Duke’s key players is Filipowski, a sophomore who is a projected top-10 NBA draft pick and “can do everything, literally,” according to Roach. The 7-foot center averaged 17.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in the 2023-24 regular season.
“He can post up, he can play on the wing, he can play out the pick and roll in the pocket and he's the best passing big man in the country,” Roach said of Filipowski’s talents.
Duke is set to take on Vermont in the first round of March Madness on Friday, March 22, at 7:10 p.m. ET.
If the Blue Devils get through, they will face No. 5 Wisconsin or No. 12 James Madison in the second round and potentially No. 1 Houston in the Sweet 16.