Duke basketball losing a big man to the transfer portal
After adding two forwards through the NCAA’s transfer portal last week, Duke is seeing one of its big men leave via that same method.
Henry Coleman, a 6-7 forward who played in 19 games as a freshman last season for the Blue Devils, entered his name in the portal Tuesday to find a new school.
“I want to thank Duke University for the opportunity to be a part of this program,” Coleman said in a statement released by the school. “Since the season ended, I have had discussions with my family and my coaches at Duke, and have decided to enter my name in the transfer portal.”
Coleman’s move comes after Duke added graduate transfers Theo John and Bates Jones last Thursday and Friday. Both players are using the fifth year of eligibility provided by the NCAA’s pandemic-era rule to not count the 2020-21 season toward limits to play for the Blue Devils next season.
The 6-9, 255-pound John started 87 games for Marquette over the last three seasons, compiling 87 blocked shots during that time. He averaged 8.0 points and 5.0 rebounds while hitting 57% of his shots from the field last season.
The 6-8, 225-pound Jones, younger brother of former Duke and current New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, played four seasons as a reserve at Davidson. A third Jones sibling, Ruthie, is the starting goalkeeper as a sophomore for Duke’s women’s soccer team.
Both those players are expected to provide depth behind 7-foot center Mark Williams, who improved greatly last season as a freshman and closed his season with a 23-point, 19-rebound game against Louisville in the ACC tournament.
Duke has two highly-rated forwards among its incoming freshman class in 6-9 Paolo Banchero and 6-7 A.J. Griffin. Both are five-star players rated among the top 10 players in the Class of 2021.
Coleman, from Richmond’s Trinity Episcopal School, arrived at Duke as a four-star recruit rated the No. 52 player in the class. As Duke went 13-11 and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995, Coleman averaged 1.1 points and 1.4 rebounds while hitting 50% (10 of 20) of his shots from the field.
He only played more than nine minutes in a game twice -- Feb. 6 against North Carolina and March 9 in the ACC tournament against Boston College. Coleman’s playing time did increase as the season progressed as he saw action in each of Duke’s final 11 games.
“I want to thank Henry and his family and offer my support to his decision,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement. “We certainly will miss what Henry brought to our team. He has a terrific career in front of him and we wish him well.”
Coleman is the fourth player from last year’s freshman class to leave Duke this year. It started in February when 6-9 forward Jalen Johnson declared for the NBA Draft and withdrew from school. After the season, 6-8 forward Jaemyn Brakefield entered his name in the transfer portal and 6-2 guard DJ Steward declared for the NBA Draft.
Duke also lost 6-9 forward Matthew Hurt to the NBA Draft after he averaged 18.3 points per game to lead the ACC as a sophomore last season.
Two seniors, 6-2 guard Jordan Goldwire and 6-9 center Patrick Tapé, entered the transfer portal to use their fifth season of eligibility elsewhere. Goldwire is going to Oklahoma while Tapé will play at San Francisco.
This story was originally published April 20, 2021 at 2:31 PM with the headline "Duke basketball losing a big man to the transfer portal."