Duke’s path back to the top in 2026 may run through the same place it did before: the defense.
That’s the shape of this roster right now. Manny Diaz and his staff went after the transfer portal hard this offseason after losing a significant chunk of production from the 2025 team, and the result is a defense with plenty of new faces and just enough intrigue to make people wonder if the Blue Devils can surprise again.
The offense, at least on paper, looks like it could take a step back. Darian Mensah is gone.
Cooper Barkate is gone. So are key pieces up front.
Walker Eget, the San Jose State transfer who is the general favorite to win the starting quarterback job, is still largely unproven. Outside of Nate Sheppard, the skill group is also mostly a collection of players who have yet to establish themselves at the Power Conference level.
That leaves Diaz and defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke with a familiar task: make the defense the engine.
They’ve done it before. In Diaz’s first season, Duke won nine games behind an elite defense while the offense sat in the middle of the pack.
The Blue Devils followed that with a 2025 run that ended with the program’s first ACC Championship since 1989, but the defense was not nearly as sharp as it had been in 2024, when Duke was one of the best units in the ACC and arguably in all of college football. Last season’s offense was better than it had been two years earlier, but the defensive drop-off was obvious.
Now the Blue Devils are trying to get back to that standard.
The secondary is one of the biggest areas where that will have to happen, and it’s also where Duke has added some of the most interesting new pieces. One of them is Che Ojarikre, who lands at No. 19 in the program’s top 30 players countdown.
Ojarikre comes to Durham after spending his entire college career at Stanford. The 6'2" cornerback wasn’t a major recruit coming out of high school, but he made an immediate impression as a true freshman, appearing in Stanford’s final 11 games, finishing with four total tackles and an interception.
His momentum stalled in 2024 when an injury wiped out the entire season. He returned in 2025 and played in all 12 games, starting six, and finished with 30 total tackles and two pass deflections for a Stanford team that went 4-8 overall and 3-5 in ACC play.
After that redshirt sophomore season, Ojarikre entered the portal and ended up at Duke, where there’s playing time available and a path to matter quickly. Chandler Rivers is gone after serving as Duke’s best corner over the last few seasons, even if his senior year in 2025 was underwhelming. Landan Callahan and Kimari Robinson are back, but Ojarikre still has a real shot to push for a starting job.
The competition is crowded. Duke also brought in Evan Smith from Northwestern, Kyon Loud from Montana and Dylan Flowers from Western Kentucky. There are only so many snaps to go around, but Ojarikre has already shown flashes in a limited sample, and he arrives with the advantage of having spent his entire career at the Power Conference level.
Stanford hasn’t won more than four games in a season since Ojarikre got there, but the corner has already seen a high level of competition. That experience could matter once training camp starts and the games begin to count.
For Duke, the bigger picture is pretty clear. Unless Eget or receivers Jared Richardson and Javen Nicholas make major leaps, the Blue Devils are probably going to lean on the defense again. And if that’s the case, newcomers like Ojarikre will need to grow up fast.
Duke has plenty of uncertainty heading into 2026, but Ojarikre is one of the newcomers who stands out as a player fans should have their eyes on.
In Other News...
Former Blue Devil Lands A Major NBA Coaching Opportunity
Amile Jeffersons coaching rise has continued to pick up speed since he joined the Celtics in 2023, giving the former Duke big man a steady path inside one of the NBAs most watched organizations. After a playing career that stretched from Durham to a brief NBA stint with Orlando, Jefferson has settled into the next phase of his basketball life on Bostons bench, where he has been part of the staff under Joe Mazzulla.
Now he is getting a chance to take on a larger role in the Summer League, a setting that often serves as a proving ground for young coaches as much as young players. For Jefferson, it is a meaningful step forward, one that offers real head-coaching experience and another reminder that former Blue Devils keep finding ways to matter at the next level. [Read more 🡒]
Jon Scheyer Just Got The Kind Of Validation Duke Fans Crave
Jon Scheyer has spent his first years as Dukes head coach working under a spotlight few programs can match, where every move gets measured against the schools championship standard. What makes his rise notable is not just the results, but the way he has seemingly fit the job: the Blue Devils have a coach who is still close enough to the modern player to communicate naturally, yet experienced enough to handle the pressure that comes with leading Duke.
Jeff Teagues recent comments only added to that sense of validation, because they came after he spoke with Duke players and heard how they feel about Scheyer. The message from inside the program was straightforward, with players saying they enjoy being around him and value how he can teach, relate and work with them, the kind of feedback that matters in Durham as much as any outside praise. [Read more 🡒]
Cameron Boozer Is Already At The Center Of A Heated NBA Rivalry
The early NBA link between Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson already has a little extra edge to it, and it started the moment they came off the board in back-to-back spots. Peterson landed with Utah at No. 2, Boozer followed to Memphis at No. 3, and their first summer league meeting in Salt Lake City gave the matchup an immediate sense of stakes for two players who are expected to be tied together for a long time.
Peterson got the better of the first head-to-head, steering the Jazz past the Grizzlies with a strong all-around showing, while Boozer had his own productive night in defeat. It is still only summer league, but when two high-end prospects are drafted that close together and then share the floor so quickly, every possession starts to feel like an early chapter in something bigger. [Read more 🡒]