Duke adds Harvard’s Catchings, Northwestern’s Young as grad transfers

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer announced Monday the addition of two graduate transfers to the program – Kale Catchings and Ryan Young.

“We needed to add some depth and experience to our roster this spring, and we certainly achieved that with Kale and Ryan,” said Scheyer. “They each come from programs and coaches that we both know and trust and we believe in them helping us on the court every day. Kale and Ryan are also model student-athletes that graduated from prestigious institutions, who will represent Duke and our program at the highest level.”

Catchings is a 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward from O’Fallon, Mo., who comes to Duke after a four-year career at Harvard University. Young, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound center out of Stewartsville, N.J., joins the Blue Devils after three seasons at Northwestern University.

Catchings appeared in 44 games with 30 starts in three full seasons at Harvard, averaging 6.5 points on .476 shooting from the field with 3.0 rebounds per contest. He started all 24 games he played in as a senior in 2021-22, setting career highs in points (9.1), rebounds (4.0) and field goal percentage (.497). Off the court, Catchings was a CoSIDA Academic All-District I honoree this past season and was named to the NABC Player Development Coalition – alongside former Duke forward Wendell Moore Jr. – prior to the 2020-21 campaign.

The St. Louis-area native comes in with a strong family background in the sport of basketball. His grandfather, Harvey Catchings, played in the NBA for 11 seasons from 1974-85, while his aunt, Tamika Catchings, was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 after a legendary playing career at the collegiate, professional and international levels.

“Kale came highly recommended by all his coaches, much like Ryan,” said Scheyer. “He is physical and will bring a toughness that will make everyone in our program better. He is versatile with his ability to defend multiple positions and also step out and shoot.”

Young played in 85 games with 37 starts for the Wildcats over the past three seasons, averaging 8.7 points on .555 field goal shooting and 5.1 rebounds. The Academic All-Big Ten selection in 2021-22 has three career double-doubles and scored in double figures 32 times. He comes to Duke maintaining two years of NCAA eligibility.

“Ryan fills a major need for us inside on both ends of the court,” said Scheyer. “He was a very effective low post scorer in the Big Ten where he also battled against some of the best big men in the country. He brings a much needed physical presence and really complements our incoming freshmen.”

With the addition of Catchings and Young, Duke has had five student-athletes join the program as grad transfers in the past three seasons. The pair follows Patrick Tapé (Columbia) in 2020-21 and Theo John (Marquette) and Bates Jones (Davidson) in 2021-22.