Using the transfer portal, Duke basketball added a 23-year-old forward. The new player is a bright young player.
Mason Gillis will be 24 years old when Duke basketball starts ACC play in the following season. Tyrese Proctor, a junior guard who will return for the Blue Devils, is almost 3.5 years older than the seasoned Purdue forward.
Not to mention, Gillis has experienced something no other player on the Duke roster for 2023–24 has: playing for a national title. Gillis redshirted his freshman year at Purdue and went on to average over 20 minutes per game in each of the next four seasons.
Given his extensive background and the fact that the Blue Devils lost two talented forwards—sophomore Mark Mitchell and freshman Sean Stewart—via the transfer portal, it is understandable why head coach Jon Scheyer and his staff were eager to get a commitment from the graduate bruiser.
And they did just that on Monday afternoon when Gillis said he will now play his last season in college in Durham.
The 6-foot-6, 225-pound Indiana native is one of just two confirmed transfer arrivals for the Blue Devils this cycle, along with former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown, an All-ACC defender who will arrive at Duke with two years of eligibility remaining.
Mason Gillis did not have a great season with the Boilermakers last year, averaging just 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game. He is now ranked 73rd overall in the 247Sports transfer rankings. But his efforts—which included a 46.8 shooting % on 3.2 tries per game outside the arc—were good enough to earn him the title of Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, indicating that he may be willing to back up a title candidate.
Three scholarships are now available for Duke basketball’s 2024–25 squad. As things stand, for Jon Scheyer’s third season as head coach, the Blue Devils will receive a six-deep recruiting class that currently ranks first in the nation to join Mason Gillis, Maliq Brown, Tyrese Proctor, and returning sophomore guard Caleb Foster.
Watch Blue Devil Country on SI to learn more about Duke basketball.
