Jeremy Roach returning to Duke for senior season

By John Fanta
Published

Duke was already regarded as a national championship frontrunner entering next season. In an expected, but important piece of news, the cherry on top of a strong spring for Jon Scheyer and staff came Monday morning.

Star guard Jeremy Roach is returning for his senior season.

The All-ACC selection made it official with an Instagram post showing a blank banner next to the five others denoting the Blue Devils national championships.

An error occurred while retrieving the Instagram post. It might have been deleted.

What does this news mean? Duke has the table-setter to its offense back in the fold and a high-level, two-way college player who has a clutch instinct.

Roach is the Blue Devils' heart and soul, and when he turns it on, everyone has fed off him the last two seasons in Durham. In late-game situations, he's come up so many times for this program in recent years, most notably in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Averaging 13.6 points and 3.1 assists per game in 32 contests this past year, a lingering toe injury impacted Roach's season from turning into what it could have been.

Now, he'll be returning to a team that has an embarrassment of riches. Reigning ACC Freshman of the Year Kyle Filipowski is returning, as are forward Mark Mitchell and dynamic guard Tyrese Proctor, who played his best basketball down the stretch this past season.

So, there's returning experience, but there's also the staple top-tier freshman class coming in as well – with four five-star prospects entering Cameron Indoor Stadium in the upcoming season.

So, the Blue Devils are bringing back 81% of their starters from a year ago, the team's top four scorers and a really versatile recruiting class.

The one remaining question has been answered.

With the point guard, Roach, officially back, all the pieces are there for Scheyer to win a national championship in just his second season at the helm.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.