Duke loses forward to UConn in transfer portal

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Duke loses forward to UConn in transfer portal

David Yapkowitz, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Sat, Apr 18, 2026 ·

2 min read

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The Duke Blue Devils lost their second player to the transfer portal this week in incoming sophomore forward Nikolas Khamenia who committed to UConn , as per Joe Tipton of On3. That was following the departure of guard Darren Harris who committed to Indiana earlier this week.

Nikolas Khamenia's commitment to UConn out of the transfer portal is a huge blow to Duke as he was expected to be a major contributor next season. Although his playing time and role sometimes fluctuated during his freshman year, Khamenia was on pace to potentially taking on a larger opportunity in 2026-27.

This past season, he appeared in 38 games, including five starts, at a little over 19 minutes per game. He averaged 5.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists with splits of 44.4 percent shooting from the field, 34 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 67.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Khamenia had three games in which he reached his season-high in points at 14. In Duke's final game of the season, a loss to UConn, coincidently, in the Elite Eight, Khamenia finished with seven points, two rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot in 22 minutes.

Duke will be entering the program's fifth year with Jon Scheyer at the helm as head coach. The Blue Devils have reached the NCAA Tournament in each of the previous four seasons, getting to the Final Four in 2024-25.

On the other hand, Khamenia will be on pace for a breakout season with UConn. The Huskies are coming off an appearance in the national championship game, and have a hole at forward to address with the departure of Alex Karaban .

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