Overview
After a heart-wrenching loss in the NCAA tournament final in May, head coach John Danowski, then-senior defender Kenny Brower and then-senior Dyson Williams sat at the press podium covered in sweat — each with the type of far-out, dejected look only a loss like that can induce.
"Every year is a new journey," Brower said then about what the 2024 season will bring. "New guys, new team, but the standard doesn't change. So it continues to be our goal to get back here eventually one day, and win."
Perhaps even more than last season, Duke is poised to do just that.
The Blue Devils returned nearly their entire starting lineup and most of their key depth for this season, including Brower (an All-American defender last season and preseason first-teamer this time around) and Williams, who led the team in scoring and was selected first overall in the NLL draft not long ago. Senior FOGO Jake Naso comes back for round four in Durham on the heels of his best statistical season with the team, as does graduate long-stick midfielder Tyler Carpenter and goalie William Helm.
The headliner is back for his senior year, too. Brennan O’Neill, fresh off an MVP-worthy performance in the summer’s World Lacrosse Championships with Team USA and holding a Tewaaraton Award — Duke’s first since 2010 — in his cabinet, the Bay Shore, N.Y., native is ready to terrorize college lacrosse for another season. Then add in the likes of Andrew McAdorey in attack, Aidan Danenza in midfield, a talented recruiting class and some dynamite transfers, and the Blue Devils are looking as stacked as they have in years.
“Duke always has a bullseye on [its] chest,” Danowski said at the team’s preseason media day. “[That] obviously started with Coach K and men's basketball, and it trickles down to the rest of us. Everybody wants to knock us off. It truly is living one day at a time, one game at a time, not getting ahead of yourself.”
With that in mind, expectations are sky-high for the preseason-No. 2 team. As Brower said after that game in May, each season is a new journey. But the destination is front-of-mind for Danowski and company: It’s national championship or bust. -Andrew Long
Key departures: Garrett Leadmon and Wilson Stephenson
Then-graduate Garrett Leadmon was the surprise of the 2023 season, breaking out as the star on the first midfield line. After spending his senior season as a defensive midfielder, the Annapolis, Md., native racked up 29 goals and 8 assists in his fifth year. His most important and impressive performance of the season came against Penn State in the NCAA tournament semifinals, as Leadmon scored a hat-trick, the third goal of which was the controversial game-winner in overtime. His stellar performance led to copious awards, including the NCAA All-Tournament Team and USILA and USA Lacrosse All-American Honorable Mentions. Now a midfielder for the Maryland Whipsnakes in the PLL, Duke will hope to find a scoring threat to replicate his success.
Captain Wilson Stephenson was the heart of the Blue Devil defense last season. The long-pole drew the toughest assignments game after game and excelled, creating 29 turnovers and scooping 62 ground balls. The Greenwich, Conn., product shut down Sam Handley of Penn, considered one of the best players in the country at the time, establishing himself on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List. Stephenson also garnered USILA and USA Lacrosse All-American Honorable Mentions. Look for graduate student veteran Brower to step up and man the center of the defense. -Luke Jovanovic
Returning player to watch: Brennan O’Neill
O’Neill reached the pinnacle of college lacrosse last season. The Bay Shore, NY., native single-handedly won games for Duke, conducting the offense to the tune of 55 goals and 42 assists. That’s 97 total points in only 19 games played, which led the nation. Twenty-twenty-three saw him hit the 50-goal mark for the second time in his career while doubling his assist total from 2022. O’Neill especially flaunted his takeover talents in an early season matchup against Denver, where he scored four goals and three assists to lead the Blue Devils to a come-from-behind overtime victory. O’Neill won the Tewaaraton Award for his efforts, the highest honor in college lacrosse (akin to winning the Heisman in football). The only empty spot remaining on his award shelf: a NCAA title. -Jovanovic
New players to watch: Josh Zawada and Benn Johnston
Danowski has brought in a deep class of newcomers to the program, featuring eight freshmen and six graduate transfers. The latter group is led by former Michigan star attacker Josh Zawada, who comes to Durham following a senior season headlined by an Honorable Mention All-American Honor and spot on the Tewaaraton Watch List. “The experience piece, [Zawada] has, but he has a feed-first mentality, always looking for the open man,” Danowski said, “he's easy to play with.”
Danowski’s group of talented freshmen features three ranked in the top 20 of Inside Lacrosse’s 2023 recruiting rankings, and six in the top 70. The class is headlined by the No. 4-overall prospect, and top midfielder, Benn Johnston. The Lake Forest, Ill., native and Avon Old Farms product is physically imposing, at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, making him a strong defensive threat. But when the ball is in his possession, he is just as lethal, with the ability to push in transition and score on the run — from either hand. His quickness, IQ and comfort on the field will certainly equate to positive impacts as he dons a Blue Devil uniform. -Ryan Hamner
Most anticipated matchup: Notre Dame at Duke, April 7th
Led by the ultra-talented Kavanagh Brothers, Notre Dame rampaged their way to the title, handily defeating the Blue Devils twice along the way. Duke lost the first matchup in the regular season 17-12 in South Bend, Ind., and the second in grueling fashion to end the season in the NCAA Finals 13-9. After leaving Philadelphia last May with a bad taste in their mouth, the Blue Devils will have their first opportunity for revenge in a Sunday matinee contest at Koskinen Stadium against a Notre Dame squad that retained most of its star players, too. The matchup also serves as the first in a brutal back-to-back-to-back stretch of Notre Dame, Virginia and North Carolina to close out the season, all opponents likely to be ranked in the top 10. How the Blue Devils start that stretch could very well dictate how they enter the postseason; a victory could give them a shove towards that elusive national title. -Jovanovic
Best-case scenario:
Short and simple, a national title. Since coming out on top in the 2014 rendition of the NCAA tournament, the Blue Devils have failed to replicate a similar level of success since, falling in the final on two separate occasions: once to Yale in 2018, and then again last year to Notre Dame. This Duke team is perhaps its most talented version since the 2021 group that fell just short of its potential in the Final Four, and with the likes of O’Neill and Williams firing on all cylinders it should fancy its chances against anyone. The question will be whether the Blue Devils can string enough dominant performances together in the postseason to overcome Maryland, Penn State or the ACC’s perennial titans to get over the finish line. But if Duke plays its best lacrosse, there’s not many — if any — teams that can stop it from adding a fourth trophy to the case. -Long
Worst-case scenario:
After last year's impressive showing and this year’s high expectations, one could say that the worst-case scenario is a tournament run short of a championship. The Blue Devils have a roster packed with talent and an experienced coach, and the unthinkable would have to happen to keep Duke out of the tournament. That being said, the Blue Devils will still need to take down competent programs to fight for the postseason. The nightmare for Danowski's team would be uncertainty in earning a tournament spot, and an early exit if they make it. -Colton Schwabe
Predictions
Long: 13-2 (3-1 in the ACC), NCAA runner-up
Jovanovic: 12-3 (3-1), NCAA national champions
Hamner: 13-2 (3-1), NCAA runner-up
Schwabe: 14-1 (3-1), NCAA runner-up
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Andrew Long is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 119th volume.