The Chronicle's Top 10: Out with the new, in with the newer

With the end of 2015 quickly approaching, The Chronicle's sports department takes a look back at the biggest sports stories of the year. Each day, The Blue Zone will review a major game, event or storyline that helped shape the course of the year in Blue Devil athletics.

Coming in at No. 7: The departures of three title-winning freshmen left openings for yet another top-ranked Blue Devil recruiting class, with another one on the horizon in 2016.

After relying on proven veterans to lead the way for much of his tenure at Duke, head coach Mike Krzyzewski brought on arguably his most highly-touted recruiting class in 2014 hoping to avenge consecutive first weekend NCAA tournament exits.

The results were hard to argue with, as a team led by freshmen Tyus Jones, Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow led the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record and their fifth national championship. The trio combined to average 41.7 points per game and shined brightest on the biggest stage, combining with fellow freshman Grayson Allen to score 60 of the team's 68 points in the national championship game against Wisconsin.

But in the offseason, the trio of Okafor, Winslow and Jones moved on to the pro ranks, and all were selected in the first round of the 2015 NBA draft. After initially pegged to land in Los Angeles, Okafor slipped to No. 3, where he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers. Just a few picks later, Winslow was the second former Blue Devil to come off the board, chosen at No. 10 by the Miami Heat. Jones completed the trifecta and was selected at No. 24 by the Cleveland Cavaliers before being shipped back home in a trade to his hometown Minnesota Timberwolves.

Krzyzewski and his staff did not skip a beat, though, as Duke brought home the top-ranked recruiting class yet again in 2015, this team headlined by in-state talent Brandon Ingram. Along with Ingram, the class included Ohio's leading high-school scorer Luke Kennard, big man Chase Jeter and Derryck Thornton, a late addition to the group after reclassifying to the Class of 2015 to join the Blue Devils a year early. The quartet made up half of the eight-man rotation Duke used to start to the season.

Looking ahead, the Blue Devils appear poised to bring home their third consecutive top-ranked class. Duke received a commitment from Jayson Tatum, the No. 2 recruit in the Class of 2016, in early July. The Blue Devils followed that up by landing five-star point guard Frank Jackson and four-star forward Javin DeLaurier. To top it all off, Duke landed the No. 1 player in the class when power forward Harry Giles committed to the program in November. Giles tore his ACL and will not play during his senior season, but will team with Tatum next fall to form a dynamic freshman tandem. With both the No. 1 and No. 2 recruits in tow, the Blue Devils' future appears full of young, but highly-talented prospects.

READ MORE about Duke's quest to land three consecutive top-ranked recruiting classes:

5-star PG Derryck Thornton reclassifies, commits to Duke basketballTop-ranked class ready to write own script for Duke men's basketball

5-star recruit Jayson Tatum commits to Duke basketball, first piece of 2016 class

Top-ranked Harry Giles commits to Duke basketball for Class of 2016

Frank Jackson commits to Duke basketball, becomes second player in Class of 2016

Forward Javin DeLaurier commits to Duke men's basketball, joins Class of 2016

Check back tomorrow to see what comes in at No. 6 in our countdown of the top Duke sports stories of 2015.

A look at the rest of our top 10 countdown to date:

10. Rebecca Greenwell extends Elizabeth Williams' last dance against Albany

9. A look at Tommy John at Duke and beyond

8. The end of one era; the start of two more