Kyle Filipowski will return to Duke next season

Duke Blue Devils center Kyle Filipowski announced that he will be returning to Duke for his sophomore season rather than declaring for the NBA Draft. Filipowski, who stands at seven feet tall, was a major factor in the ACC Champions’ 2022-23 season.

As a freshman, he led the team in points and rebounds, putting up 15.1 points and 8.9 boards per game. In the ACC Championship Game, he had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Duke is a program that has long had a reputation for recruiting very talented players out of high school who would be one-and-done — play their freshman year and then immediately head to the pros. Under second-year head coach Jon Scheyer, that trend may be changing. Back in February, Scheyer told The Athletic, “it’s important that we have continuity from season to season... I don’t think we’ll recruit as many freshmen in a class going forward.’’

The Blue Devils struggled to get things going in the first part of the season, but picked up the pace right in time for the ACC Tournament. They fell to Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.