College Basketball Transfers: Blackwell Leads Duke's Roster Overhaul

John Blackwell believes a blunt coaching style will help him finish his college career with a deep tournament run. The former Wisconsin guard entered the transfer portal after a season that ended in an 83-82 loss to High Point in the NCAA Tournament first round. He now joins the second-ranked Duke Blue Devils, where coach Jon Scheyer promised to push players daily without sugarcoating the process.

Blackwell’s move is part of a wave of high-profile transfers reshaping college basketball rosters this fall. He scored 1,505 points in three seasons at Wisconsin, ranking 11th on the school’s career list. Last season, he averaged 19.1 points and 5.1 rebounds. A media panel named him a first-team preseason all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, and he finished second to Virginia forward Thijs De Ridder in voting for ACC preseason player of the year.

The 6-foot-5 guard has already produced results in Duke’s early games. He scored 23 points in a 90-84 victory over No. 17 Kansas and 18 points in a 103-64 win over No. 8 Tennessee. Scheyer noted that Blackwell is a proven scorer who does not need the ball to impact the team's winning.

Other players are making similar moves to new conferences. Flory Bidunga, a 6-foot-9 forward from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, joined No. 11 Louisville from Kansas. He earned second-team Associated Press all-Big 12 honors and was named the Big 12 defensive player of the year last season. He averaged 13.3 points and 9 rebounds in the 2025-26 season. Juke Harris moved from Wake Forest to Tennessee, where he averaged 21.4 points per game last year and played 1,230 minutes, the most for a Wake Forest player since 1974-75.

Mila Momcilovic joined No. 23 Kentucky from Iowa State. The 6-foot-9 forward led all Division I players in 3-point baskets with 136 and shot 48.7 percent from beyond the arc last season. He scored 19 points in an exhibition win over Central Florida. Paulius Murauskas, a 6-foot-8 forward from Lithuania, transferred to Arizona State from Saint Mary’s. He averaged 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds last season and was named the Big 12 preseason newcomer of the year.

Dedan Thomas Jr. joined No. 10 Houston from LSU after an injury ended his 2025-26 season. The 6-foot-1 guard averaged 15.3 points and 6.5 assists in 16 games at LSU. Tounde Yessoufou, a 6-foot-5 guard from Benin, moved to No. 13 St. John’s from Baylor. He set a Baylor freshman scoring record with 605 points last season and scored 23 points in an exhibition win over Texas.

These transfers are integrating into their new teams ahead of the regular season. Blackwell, Bidunga, Harris, Momcilovic, Murauskas, Thomas, and Yessoufou have all received preseason all-conference honors from their respective conference media panels or coaching staffs.