Mark Pope battles John Calipari, others for Duke's Sean Stewart

Do we have yet another recruiting battle between Mark Pope and Coach Cal for a high-profile talent in the portal? Kentucky and Arkansas are among the first schools to reach out to Duke freshman Sean Stewart, who announced he’d be transferring on Friday.

The 6-9 freshman out of Windermere, Florida has heard from the following programs since going portaling, according to 247 High School Hoops.

• Kansas State
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Arkansas
• USC
• Florida State
• Cincinnati
• Georgetown
• Arizona State
• Miami
• Michigan
• Ohio State
• Baylor
• Texas A&M
• Tennessee
• Vanderbilt
• Cal
• Stanford
• South Carolina
• Washington
• Howard
• UCSB
• Harvard

Stewart, a former five-star recruit, averaged 2.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in just 8.4 minutes per game this season.

“Thank you Duke! I am grateful to have fufilled a dream to play for the Blue Devils! I made some great memories that I will always cherish,” Stewart said in a statement to On3. “I’m thankful for all the coaches, trainers, managers, and staff for their support in my freshman year. I have loved all my teammates, the Cameron Crazies, my professors, and classmates. I’m especially thankful for my brothers of the freshman four, who made everyday special.

“With that being said, I have decided for my continued growth and development of my basketball goals I will be entering the transfer portal. Thank you again Blue Devils!”

He closed out as the No. 12 overall prospect in the nation in the 2023 cycle, according to On3‘s Top-150 Player Rankings.

Duke transfer and former McDonald’s All-American Sean Stewart has heard from these schools since going portaling, a source tells @LeagueRDY:

Kansas State
Indiana
Kentucky
Arkansas
USC
Florida State
Cincinnati
Georgetown
Arizona State
Miami
Michigan
Ohio State
Baylor
Texas A&M… pic.twitter.com/Z5KkDgrDeD

— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) April 20, 2024

Stewart became the seventh — yes, seventh — Blue Devil to enter the portal this offseason, joining TJ Power, Mark Mitchell, Jeremy Roach, Jaylen Blakes, Christian Reeves, and Jaden Schutt. Elsewhere, Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain both declared for the draft, giving Jon Scheyer a whopping nine players to replace going into 2024-25.

They do, however, have Cooper Flagg, Isaiah Evans, Pat Ngongba, Khaman Maluach, Kon Knueppel and Darren Harris coming in among freshmen, that group making up the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.

Scheyer is going with the ole John Calipari approach: get young while the rest of college basketball is going old.

We’ll see if that strategy pays off.