Duke’s Surprise Roster Addition

We have to say, we never saw this one coming: Stanford big Neal Begovich is transferring to Duke.

Pretty clearly Jon Scheyer knows what he’s doing, so we aren’t criticizing when we say: why?

We just don’t know what it is that the staff sees in Begovich.

Yet.

A 6-9 native of San Francisco, Begovich went to Stanford as a walk-on and only got a scholarship in 2022. He scored a total of 16 points in three seasons and grabbed 11 rebounds, so it’s safe to say he wasn’t brought in because of his production.

Presumably he’s going to be a practice player, at least primarily, and obviously he’s more mature than your average freshman would be. And it’s possible too that he just brings something special to the team: his attitude, his intelligence, a great competitive drive.

Whatever it is, we trust Scheyer’s instincts and we’ll all understand eventually.

In a couple of interesting notes, this is the third year in a row that Duke has brought in a backup big man: first it was Theo John, last year it was Ryan Young and now Begovich.

And it’s also the second year in a row that former teammates at a Power Conference school transferred to Duke and UNC. Last year of course it was Young and UNC’s Pete Nance; this year it’s Begovich and Cardinal teammate Harrison Ingram.

• Stanford forward Neal Begovich transfers to Duke men’s basketball
• Stanford’s Neal Begovich gets surprised with scholarship
• Jarvis Moss and Neal Begovich in transfer portal
• Begovich bio