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Duke Lands Commitment from Purdue's Mason Gillis in CBB Transfer Portal

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Former Purdue forward Mason Gillis announced his commitment to Duke in the transfer portal in an Instagram post on Monday.

"Next chapter," Gillis wrote.

During his latest season with the Boilermakers, he averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game off the bench. Gillis is a shooting specialist, connecting on 46.8 percent of his triples during the team's 2023-24 campaign.

He originally entered the transfer portal on April 10.

Gillis spent his entire collegiate career at Purdue prior to Monday's announcement, appearing in 132 games which included 63 starts. He's remained an effective long-range shooter, connecting on 40.7 percent of his triples since his freshman season started in 2020.

He's the second addition that Duke has made in the transfer portal during the 2024 offseason after the Blue Devils received a commitment from former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown on Saturday.

Gillis will now be part of a 2024-25 Duke team that will look drastically different from the prior season, as the top four scorers for head coach Jon Scheyer's team in 2024 will not be returning. Center Kyle Filipowski and guard Jared McCain declared for the NBA draft, while guard Jeremy Roach and forward Mike Mitchell entered the portal.

Still, Gillis should provide floor spacing around incoming freshman Cooper Flagg. Flagg, a high school phenom, ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the country as part of the 2024 recruiting class (via 247Sports' composite).

Despite being named the 2024 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, Gillis struggled on the defensive end of the floor. However, Flagg should be able to cover up his mistakes after he averaged 2.7 blocks per game at Montverde Academy during the 2023-24 season.

It's clear that Scheyer is focused on building an experienced roster that can generate looks from behind the arc surrounding Flagg.

   

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