Khaman Maluach Chose Duke Over Kansas with a Coin Flip

On this week's edition of The Brotherhood Podcast, host Caleb Foster brought on 7' 2" 250-pound freshman center Khaman Maluach to talk about his time before arriving in Durham and what he's looking forward to most in his freshman campaign.

On this week's edition of The Brotherhood Podcast, host Caleb Foster brought on 7' 2", 250-pound freshman center Khaman Maluach to discuss his time before arriving in Durham and what he's looking forward to most in his freshman campaign.

Maluach will be one of the most intriguing prospects to watch around college basketball this season. Listed as the #4 2024 college prospect by 247sports.com, Maluach brings a skillset to Duke that few prospects have ever had. Despite being incredibly raw, Maluach displayed a knack for running the floor and being able to shoot from the outside, specifically in catch-and-shoot situations in transition. His defensive potential and athleticism despite his size gives him the potential to be one of the first names called at the 2025 NBA Draft. Foster sat down with him to discuss what he brings to the table, how he found his way to Duke, and more.

Maluach touched on his recruiting process and just how difficult the final decision ultimately was. After cutting his list to three schools (Duke, Kansas, UCLA), and then cutting the Bruins from that list, Maluach was torn between the Blue Devils and Jayhawks. So much so, it came down to a simple coin flip.

"When I cut it down to two schools, it came to Kansas and Duke, and I couldn't decide where to go. Like, I'm scared of making this mistake. And then I was like, 'I know, just get a coin and flip it.' So, I got a coin and I was like 'Duke this side and Kansas this side,' so I flipped the coin, and then the craziest part the coin fell on Kansas' side."

So, the coin flip decided Maluach's commitment, sometimes it's just that simple. But, once it landed and told him to head to Lawrence, something came over him.

"So when it fell on Kansas' side I was disappointed, and that's how I knew, like, I want to go to Duke."

Foster mentioned how he's never played with a player like Maluach, which is probably true for most college basketball players. Maluach then went across his own scouting report to let Duke fans know what to expect from him as a player.

"I would say, mostly I start on defense [because] most of my game is if I don't play well defensively, like, my offensive side goes down so, I just try to bring the energy on defense [because] at the end of the day if I have a bad game on the offensive side but I have like thirteen boards and six blocks, that would be a good game for me."

A 7' 2" defensive anchor with the offensive potential Maluach brings will be a luxury at Jon Scheyer's disposal that very few college coaches have the opportunity to handle. A true center that excels defensively was one of the Blue Devils' big weaknesses a season ago, and that seems to be checked off the list of improvements needed to be made with the entrance of Maluach.

Maluach didn't even start playing basketball until his late teenage years, let alone start to think about being a top recruit or playing at the power conference level. Most top recruits that play from a young age dream of playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium due to the program's success, opportunity to win a championship, or amount of NBA talent that has come out of the program. But, Maluach had a bit of a different route to hearing about Duke's legacy.

"A couple of years after I started basketball, so I started basketball in 2019, then in 2020, 2021, that's when I knew about Duke [because] I saw videos of Zion [Williamson], like him dominating and then dunking, that was like in high school. So then when I checked and found out this guy went to Duke, that's how I got to know Duke. Yes [Zion was the earliest memory of Duke basketball].

The interview surely will get Duke fans ecstatic to watch the unique prospect develop and get better in Duke blue, and it might not be too long until college basketball watchers are seeing him throw down slams similar to what Williamson was doing just a few years ago.

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