Duke eyes ACC threepeat; North Carolina aims to rebuild

NELL REDMOND | THEACC.COM

Duke junior Patrick Ngongba II is one of the nation's top returning centers and a mature veteran presence on the Blue Devils' roster.

The road to the ACC basketball title is expected to run through Durham.

The beauty of a new season is that every team has the same chance — in theory — to win a championship. But Duke, which has appeared in four of the last five ACC championships and won three of the last four — including back-to-back in 2025-26 — is once again loaded with talented freshmen. 

One key attribute to a Jon Scheyer-coached team is the mixture of young talent with veteran returnees to find the perfect combination. One of those returners is junior center Patrick Ngongba II. 
Scheyer said that while he doesn’t know what the numbers will look like from a points, rebounds and assists perspective, he feels Ngongba is the “best player on the team,” from how he impacts winning basketball. 

“I could not be more proud of the group that we have,” Scheyer said. “Proud of these two guys next to me in Dame [Sarr] and Pat. I think they represent the core of how this team has been built. It's been built on guys making different decisions to come back. … These two guys could have gone pro. Obviously any player could have transferred. The guys coming in could have gone somewhere else. They all chose Duke, and they all chose Duke with the understanding that we have to continue to earn and that we’re not entitled to anything.”

Ngongba has been a teammate to talented big men such as NBA players Kahman Maluach in his freshman year and 2026 third overall draft pick Cameron Boozer. Now a junior, Ngongba aims to lead the younger playerss. 

“Both [Maluach and Boozer] helped my game a lot,” Ngongba said. “I think Kahman, more on the defensive side, watching the things that he would do. Then with Cam, offensively, his patience and poise, just him making the right reads and plays and stuff like that. With [the freshmen] I just try to give them as much knowledge as I may know and try to help them out whenever they need help.” 

The Blue Devils have the No. 2 recruiting class in the country — trailing only John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks. 

Duke signed three ESPN 100-ranked players including No. 5 Cameron Williams (power forward), No. 17 Deron Rippey Jr. (point guard) and No. 29 Bryson Howard (small forward). The Blue Devils also brought in international five-star center Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje. 

“They’ve been great to coach,” Scheyer said. “I don’t know if they’re going to have an immediate impact at the level that we’ve seen. We’ve seen historic impact with our freshmen, but they’re going to be contributors to winning. They’re fortunate they have more experience in the building to look to where guys can help guide them. I think it’s been great – there's no separation between freshmen and upperclassmen.”

Can North Carolina challenge?

North Carolina will look a lot different in 2026-27. 

Coach Hubert Davis was fired in March. Replacing him is Michael Malone, who coached the Denver Nuggets to the 2022-23 NBA title. Several players departed but a few like Jarin Stevenson elected to stay. 

“I think coach Malone has done a great job,” Stevenson said. “Very defense-minded, which I like. I take pride in my defense. I also like the fast style of play, so working from the defensive style, going into a fast style of play and transitioning there, that is very cool too. He’s held everybody accountable and in check, so I think he’s done a great job so far.”

NELL REDMOND | THEACC.COM

Jarin Stevenson praised new coach Michael Malone's emphasis on defense and uptempo pace as the Tar Heels mount a challenge for the ACC title.

In a departure from recent North Carolina hires, Malone has no ties to the school but is balancing respecting tradition while putting his own imprint on the program. 

“I think I mentioned the day I was hired, I have a tremendous amount of respect for the tradition and history of UNC basketball going all the way back to a guy like Frank McGuire and Dean Smith,” he said. “And while honoring that and respecting that, at the end of the day I have to be true to myself, so we’re going to go out there and play a brand of basketball that I think is going to allow us to have success, and more importantly, sustained success.

“Obviously, I was a part of — a small part of a championship team that we had in Denver in 2023, and we’re trying to kind of simulate the culture, style of play, starting with defense, rebounding, playing uptempo, and also most importantly, sharing the ball and being a team and being a team that plays for each other.”

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