By SAM LANCE
Duke has had seven players enter the transfer portal this offseason, but now coach Jon Scheyer has his first portal addition with former Syracuse power forward Maliq Brown announcing his commitment to the Blue Devils via Instagram on Saturday.
Brown, the 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward from Culpeper (VA), averaged 9.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and and 2.2 steals per game last season for the Orange. He started in 18 of Syracuse’s 32 games.
The forward is rated the No. 19 player in the portal by Evan Miya and the No. 92 overall transfer by 247Sports. Brown was ranked a three-star and top-250 prospect in the 2022 class out of Blue Ridge High School (VA). He led Blue Ridge to four straight Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) Division II championships.
Brown will be an elite defensive presence, as he made ACC First-Team All-Defense last season.
As a newcomer, Brown will be joining an elite No. 1-ranked Duke freshman recruiting class. This includes projected top-3 2025 NBA Draft picks Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach, as well as five-star small forwards Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel, five-star center Patrick Ngongba II and four-star small forward Darren Harris.
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