International center Khaman Maluach, a potential top-three pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, has committed to Duke, he announced Wednesday.
Maluach was not ranked on conventional scouting services, since he plays for the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal, but the 7-foot-2 big man projects as a five-star, top-10 talent in the 2024 recruiting class. Further proof of how much potential Maluach has? He was named MVP of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders Africa camp last summer, and then at NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis in February — where Maluach spent time with his idol, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo — he was named both playoff and defensive MVP of the Basketball Without Borders Global camp.
Maluach picked Duke over fellow finalists Kansas, Kentucky and UCLA, as well as offers from the NBA G-League Ignite and Australia’s NBL Rising Stars program.
The 17-year-old Maluach is Duke’s sixth commit in 2024. He joins five-star wing Cooper Flagg (No. 1 overall player), five-star guard Isaiah Evans (No. 11), five-star wing Kon Knueppel (No. 16), four-star center Patrick Ngongba (No. 17), and four-star wing Darren Harris (No. 49).
With Maluach committed, Jon Scheyer has officially wrapped up his second No. 1 recruiting class in three offseasons as the Blue Devils’ coach. Duke had the top-ranked class in 2022, and its current group of freshmen were ranked second-best in the 2023 cycle.
How important a commitment is this for Duke?
It’s massive, and even that may be understating it. Maluach was the clear-cut best “high school” player left on the board — we’ll see what happens in the transfer portal later this spring — and would have been a top-five recruit nationally were he playing in America. Just because he isn’t a household name yet doesn’t mean he won’t become one… because he will. At 7-foot-2, Maluach is exactly the kind of rim-protecting, finishing center Scheyer has shown a proclivity for early in his tenure; the last similar player Duke had, Dereck Lively II, became a lottery pick and currently starts for the Dallas Mavericks. Maluach’s upside might be even higher. He’s an immediate starter, and will give Duke two projected top-five picks in next season’s frontcourt.
Something else worth noting: Duke already has one NBA Academy player on its roster — sophomore point guard Tyrese Proctor, from Australia — but the program’s latest international commit is further confirmation that Scheyer is extending his recruiting reach. International prospects from Europe have been infiltrating college basketball for several seasons now — especially on the West Coast, at schools like Gonzaga, UCLA and Arizona — but before Proctor, that wasn’t a common avenue the Blue Devils pursued. But as the game of basketball gains worldwide popularity, Scheyer has shown he’ll go outside America to land game-changing prospects. Proctor was one, but Maluach is even at another level. — Brendan Marks, Duke beat writer
What is Maluach’s game like?
Any Duke fans worried about the current team’s rim protection won’t have those fears next season. Maluach is a shot-blocking machine, similar to Lively. That length obviously makes him a tremendous rebounder, too. But what’s intriguing is Maluach’s offense. Of course he’s going to provide enormous rim pressure in pick-and-roll scenarios, but he also has legitimate shooting potential, even as a center; that should play well in Scheyer’s perimeter-oriented system, which often sees the five playing outside the post.
Maluach slots in as an immediate starter alongside Flagg, who can play either the three or four at the college level. That will give Duke one of the best, most-athletic frontcourts in the nation next season… and that’s without mentioning any potential returners, like current sophomore Mark Mitchell. Duke was always going to be stacked next season, but Maluach takes that to a new level. The Blue Devils could conceivably — depending on who comes back — be a top-3 preseason team again in Scheyer’s third season. — Marks
What’s next for Duke?
Figuring out how all the pieces fit together. Six commits in the 2024 class is more than Scheyer initially intended, and it’s not inconceivable that one or more of those recruits looks elsewhere before enrolling this summer. (Five-star forward Mackenzie Mgbako, for instance, decommitted last April and is currently a freshman at Indiana.)
Beyond that, Duke needs to figure out who it has coming back. Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain seem like the two players most likely to leave for this summer’s NBA Draft — both were projected first-round picks in The Athletic’s latest mock draft — but more could follow. Could Proctor, depending on how his season ends, choose to go, too? And then what about the team’s other returners? Senior Jeremy Roach, for instance, still has a COVID year of eligibility he could use if he wants, but has yet to decide on his future plans. (Roach has developed into one of the best shooters in America, so Duke would seemingly take him back.) And what of the program’s other young talents? All of Caleb Foster — currently out with a lower-body injury — T.J. Power and Sean Stewart would be heavily sought-after in the transfer portal if they opt to leave, but also would be valuable returners next season.
Scheyer has to get through this season first — the Blue Devils can win a share of the ACC title if they win their regular-season finale versus rival UNC on Saturday — before dealing with those future decisions. But he can’t bring in six new returners and have everyone possible back from this season. There aren’t enough scholarships. Something has to budge. — Marks
What does Maluach’s commitment to Duke mean for the 2025 NBA Draft?
Duke has a very real chance to end up with the top two selections in the 2025 draft. Flagg is considered the favorite to go No. 1, as he’s one of the best high school basketball players to enter college in the last decade. However, Maluach and Rutgers commit Ace Bailey are seen among NBA scouts as being the two players most likely to threaten that standing at the top of the class. Maluach is incredibly impactful across the court as a terrific athlete with real length who is elite around the rim. On offense, he has great soft touch, sharp mobility and excellent footwork.
Maluach’s ceiling is through the roof, and scouts are extremely excited to get eyes on him as he starts his college journey. They got a taste of what he can do at Basketball Without Borders back in February during the All-Star break. He was the talk of the NBA community following that event, as scouts who spoke with The Athletic came away speaking in the same breathless terms that are typically reserved for future All-Stars.
The last time a school had two top-three picks in a single draft was back in 2019, and it was also Duke with Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett. However, the blast-from-the-past comparison that more scouts have made to me is actually the 2014 Kansas team, which had Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid. Wiggins was seen at the time as one of the best prospects since LeBron James, and Embiid was quickly viewed as the fast-rising big man just scratching the surface of what he could become. Embiid likely would have been taken at No. 1 if not for questions about his future injury potential. Instead, he went third and Wiggins went No. 1. Flagg, in my opinion, is extremely likely to exceed Wiggins’ contributions in college and I expect his overall NBA career to be drastically better. This isn’t to compare those two. However, Maluach’s trajectory could very well match that of Embiid’s pre-draft if things go well for him next season. — Sam Vecenie, senior NBA Draft writer
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(Photo: William West / AFP via Getty Images)
