Former Duke Basketball Forward Commits to Showdown Against Blue Devils

Outbound Duke basketball rookie TJ Power will continue his college career for one of the program’s biggest conference foes.

Duke basketball forward TJ Power / Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

While Duke basketball had seven former players opt to leave Durham and continue their playing careers at other programs, most of those decisions were ultimately expected. The choice to transfer was no surprise from players such as Jaylen Blakes, Jaden Schutt, and Christian Reeves, and even older, more experienced players like Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell weren’t complete shocks.

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But one of the more surprising decisions came from freshman sharpshooter TJ Power. 

With the number of outgoing transfers, it could be assumed that at least one of the outbound players would land at a rival program, given the free-form landscape of the transfer portal. The Blue Devils themselves have even landed a transfer from an ACC foe in former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown.

That potential future has now become a reality, with Power opting to continue his playing days at Virginia, perennially one of the Blue Devils’ top in-conference threats.

Power’s commitment was first reported early Monday evening by On3’s Joe Tipton, just hours after the 6-foot-9 forward received two 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions to Virginia.

NEWS: Duke transfer forward TJ Power has committed to Virginia, he tells @On3sports.

Former top-20 recruit. https://t.co/8G3hM0t8yQ pic.twitter.com/7Dk6drfZxt

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) May 6, 2024

He was briefly linked to another ACC program just over a week ago, as the 20-year-old appeared to pick up some steam with Boston College before ultimately choosing the Cavaliers.

Now, Power will look to bring some much-needed offense to head coach Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers, who are looking to bounce back after an up-and-down campaign last season. And he'll face Duke at least once as a sophomore in Charlottesville, as the ACC regular season schedule (no dates announced yet) includes a Virginia home game against the Blue Devils.

The former top-20 recruit in the class of 2023 averaged 2.1 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 0.2 assists in limited minutes as a Blue Devil, while shooting just shy of 36 percent from three. He played 13 minutes in Duke’s 73-48 victory over Virginia last season, scoring six points on 2-for-5 shooting beyond the arc.

TJ Power becomes the fourth Blue Devil transfer to announce a destination, with Mark Mitchell choosing Missouri, Jeremy Roach heading to Baylor, and Sean Stewart recently pledging allegiance to Ohio State. The trio of former Duke basketball players who remain uncommitted are Jaylen Blakes, Jaden Schutt, and Christian Reeves.

Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI for more Duke basketball news.