By Ben Hicks
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - When Logan Duncomb stepped away from basketball in October of 2023, the former top-100 recruit didn’t know what else the sport could give him. Sinus surgery and a coaching change limited the 6-foot-10 Cincinnati native to just 27 games across his freshman and sophomore seasons at Indiana. He transferred home to play at Xavier, but made the tough decision to step away before he ever touched the floor at the Cintas Center.
Now, nearly three years later, Duncomb is coming off a Big South Player of the Year season at Winthrop and is poised to lead Notre Dame with renewed expectations. So how did Duncomb rise from the doubt to become one of the nation’s best bigs? He remembered his love for the game.
“I thought it wasn’t what I wanted to do, so I took a break, and a week later I was like, ‘God, it’s the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.’ But I took that year to get my mind right. I want to just enjoy the process of basketball. I enjoy the game. It’s what I love to do,” he remembered of his decision to step away.
Duncomb starred at the illustrious Archbishop Moeller High School, winning a state championship in 2019 alongside current New York Knick Miles McBride. The storied program has produced countless college basketball players, teaching Duncomb the tools of the trade to be a successful program player. “We had the regiment of college ball. It was never a one-man show. It taught me how to work well with the team,” Duncomb said of his time under coach Carl Kremer.
His training and pedigree led to a commitment to Archie Miller and Indiana; however, Miller was let go before Duncomb enrolled in Bloomington, and he was unable to find consistent minutes under new head coach Mike Woodson. “My first couple years were frustrating for sure. I was a top-100 guy. I was expecting to come into a place and maybe not start, but play,” he recalled.
Duncomb went home hoping for a greater role at Xavier. “I might have had more opportunity there, but I was already at such a low point mentally about basketball because I wasn’t getting what I wanted out of it. It was really taxing mentally,” he said.
Instead, he took a break. The time off allowed him to rediscover his passion and regain the strength required to play basketball at the highest level. When the transfer portal opened following the 2023-24 season, he received a call from Moeller grad and then-Winthrop assistant coach Tony Rack (now entering his first year at Notre Dame).
“They gave me an opportunity, and I played a year behind Kelton Talford. It allowed me to learn a lot from him. KT that year was the guy, throw it in when it’s a tight game. That helped me the next year when I was asked to take that role from him and be the centerpiece,” Duncomb said.
Before he could take that role, though, he had to learn how to be on the court, how to play in close games, how to be on a team like he was at Moeller. For that guidance, he turned to Talford, whose leadership outshone the talent that earned him three All-Big South First-Team selections.
In that first year back on the hardwood, Duncomb recorded career highs in both points and rebounds, but saw limited action behind Talford. Duncomb wasn’t focused on stats, however, instead choosing to appreciate the joy that being on the court with his teammates brought.
“I was really in the mindset that whatever role was given to me, I’m going to attack it as hard as I can and will just be the best version of myself with everything I’m given.”
That approach paid off, and nearly five years after his last sustained on-court success, Duncomb dominated the Big South, leading his Eagles to the conference championship game. A finalist for the Lou Henson Award, which honors the nation’s best mid-major player, Duncomb averaged 18.3 points and 8.9 rebounds, while tallying 14 double-doubles. He poured in 38 at Presbyterian in January, and posted a career-high 16 rebounds against USC Upstate in February.
For Duncomb, the takeaway from the season was simple. “Last year was just a lot of joy. Loved being out there. I was finally successful like I always thought I could be. Dominating like I knew I could. It was very validating for me,” he said.
Duncomb also expressed his love for Winthrop and the Rock Hill community, but noted that the modern landscape of college basketball forced his hand following the season. “My dream is to be in the NBA, so to make that happen, you’ve got to prove yourself against the other best players in the world. That’s why I wanted to come to an ACC school here.”
And he didn’t wait long to make that decision. Duncomb was the first player head coach Micah Shrewsberry signed after the transfer portal opened on April 7. Then, on June 11, Rack also made the journey from Rock Hill to South Bend.