Nik Khamenia’s Surprise Visit

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: Nikolas Khamenia #14 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts against the UConn Huskies during the second half of a game in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Duke fans were perhaps a bit surprised to find that Nik Khamenia is considering UConn as his transfer destination.

Well, why not?

It’s an excellent program, Danny Hurley is a gifted coach, and he’d probably do well there.

In this article, we see a few snide shots from Duke fans, and a few back from UConn fans as well.

For our part, if Khamenia chooses UConn, we won’t begrudge him in the least.

He’s a better player than some of the Duke “fans” mentioned in the linked article think. First, he’s intensely competitive, second, he’s hard-nosed, and third, while we didn’t see it that much this season, Khamenia is a gifted passer.

Wherever he ends up, hopefully he gets a chance to show that part of his game. We saw a bit of it with Team USA U-19 last summer, and it was exciting.

But our advice is to not get too worked up about it. It’s not the first time that Duke and UConn have been in a recruiting battle. The last time around, it worked out okay, as Duke beat UConn out for some guy from Maine named Cooper.

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