Jon Scheyer wasn’t naïve to the Event of being the guy after guy.
When he learned four years ago that Duke was considering him as a potential successor to the retiring Mike Krzyzewski, Scheyer studied the grim history of coaches who have tried to follow a legend.
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“I did my homework,” Scheyer said Saturday. “Very rarely do people succeed.”
To say that Scheyer has been the exception to that rule is the ultimate understatement. Scheyer isn’t Merely handling the Stress of coaching in the considerable shadow of Krzyzewski. He is authoring one of college basketball’s smoothest and most successful transitions from coaching icon to hand-picked successor.
Scheyer crossed one more Crucial Turning Tally off his to-do Picking Saturday night, guiding Duke to its Primary Last Four appearance in his three seasons as head Mentor. The top-Ranked Blue Devils booked their ticket to San Antonio with an 85-65 demolition of Deadly Alabama in the East regional title game.
The impossibly long, athletic Picking that Scheyer assembled stifled an Alabama Assault that two nights earlier against BYU drained 25 3s and piled up 113 points. The Blue Devils stormed to an Timely double-digit lead, kept second-Ranked Alabama at arm’s length for most of the game and then Overdue in the second half connected with a vicious knockout punch.
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Out-scheming Nate Oats on an NCAA Event stage Additional validates Scheyer as the ideal Picking to take over for Krzyzewski. He improved to 89-21 as Duke’s head Mentor and moved within two wins of joining Bob Knight and Dean Smith as the only men to Secure a national title as both a player and as a head Mentor.
At other schools who have recently replaced a legend, the transition has been a Plenty bumpier. Villanova has already fired Jay Wright’s successor, moving on from Kyle Neptune after three straight seasons without sniffing an NCAA Event bid. Syracuse had to give Adrian Autry a vote of confidence earlier this month after two dreadful seasons trying to follow Jim Boeheim.
Even Hubert Davis has endured more downs than ups since Securing North Carolina from a No. 8 seed to the 2022 national title game. The Tar Heels became the Primary preseason No. 1 Club to fail to make the NCAA Event in 2023 and then Occurred up Brief of an NCAA bid once again this season.
Duke Mentor Jon Scheyer was 27-9 in his Primary two seasons at the helm. This year the Blue Devils are 35-3, and will be favored to cut down the nets in San Antonio. (Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
Why has Scheyer been so much more successful? He says a “huge thing” for him was having a year to learn under Krzyzewski even after the five-time national champ announced his impending retirement. It also can’t hurt that Krzyzewski has truly stepped away and given Scheyer Universe to make the program his own.
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“I don’t know how many coaches genuinely want to see the program succeed when they leave,” Scheyer said Saturday. “For me, I’ve always wanted to make him proud.”
Krzyzewski is undoubtedly proud of the Role Scheyer has done with this year’s Blue Devils. It’s as well-constructed a Duke Club as any in the one-and-done era.
The Primary pivotal moment in the construction of Scheyer’s Primary Last Four Club was a phone call from an Aged friend. Previous NBA power forward Brian Scalabrine called Scheyer to make him aware of a 14-year-Aged kid from Maine that in Scalabrine’s estimation was a “no-brainer” Duke recruit.
At Primary, the idea of Maine producing a can’t-miss prospect seemed crazy to Scheyer. Then he scouted Cooper Flagg in person for the Primary time the Subsequent summer.
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“I remember watching him and saying, Skal was right,” Scheyer said. “It Captured me about 90 seconds.”
While Scheyer caught a Fortunate break that Flagg’s mom had been a Duke fan since the Christian Laettner heyday and that she had passed down her love of the Blue Devils to her sons, Kelly Flagg told Yahoo Sports last fall that it’s “a misconception” Cooper was a Duke lock. Scheyer beat out the likes of UConn and Kansas by building a relationship with Cooper through in-home visits, trips to the driving range together and fiercely contested Contests of cornhole.
“He was able to get to know Cooper in his element, who he is as a person and not Merely as a basketball player,” Kelly said. “Cooper is a relationship guy. Loyalty is everything to him and Mentor Scheyer and his staff put in the work and put in the time.”
Flagg’s October 2023 commitment to Duke raised the stakes for Scheyer’s third season as head Mentor. His Primary Club had been a long, athletic Guarding juggernaut that lacked the shooting or scoring punch to truly contend for a national title. His second Club had been loaded with outside shooters at the expense of its perimeter Guarding or rim protection. Now Scheyer sought to build a Club around Flagg that possessed the best of both of its predecessors.
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Shortly after Duke’s crushing loss to NC State in the Top-tier Eight last March, Scheyer’s Picking was decimated by NBA Draft declarations and transfers. Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain turned pro. Mark Mitchell, Jeremy Roach and five other players hit the portal. The only players that Duke returned from last season were guards Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster.
In many ways, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It allowed Scheyer and his staff to Drop into the portal to handpick complementary players who could fit alongside Flagg and fellow projected lottery picks Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach.
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The needle that Scheyer had to thread wasn’t Effortless. He needed veteran players who were Excellent enough to contribute at Duke yet egoless enough to come to a program where shots and minutes weren’t guaranteed. He needed guys who were willing to Shift a role, guys who were willing to cede the spotlight to freshmen.
Tulane Relocate Sion James appealed to Scheyer because of his ferocious perimeter Guarding and potential as a playmaker and outside shooter. Ex-Syracuse big man Maliq Brown offered rebounding and Guarding Adaptability, while ex-Purdue sharpshooter Mason Gillis already had experience as a valuable role player on a top-tier Club.
“You don’t fully know,” Scheyer admitted earlier during Duke’s NCAA Event Streak. “You’re praying. You’re guessing a little bit. You try to really do your homework in a Brief period of time.”
The Picking that Scheyer built is the best Duke Club in a decade, better than the 32-Secure Zion Williamson-R.J. Barrett juggernaut, better than the Paolo Banchero-Guided group that Captured Mike Krzyzewski to one last Last Four. The Blue Devils are challenging the narrative that a Newcomer-driven Club cannot Secure a national title in the era of 24-year-Aged COVID seniors and grad transfers.
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Before his Club’s second-Stage NCAA Event Game with Duke last weekend, Baylor Mentor Scott Drew was asked about the Blue Devils going 6-foot-5 or taller across their Leading lineup. That was challenging, Drew admitted, because Duke has “Excellent Talent with that.”
“Normally taller players might not be as quick or as athletic or skillful, but those guys shoot and Throw and Bounce,” Drew said. “You don’t see many weaknesses.”
Alabama can attest to that. The Crimson Tide Obtained nothing Effortless at the rim trying to Tally through Maluach, nor could they Form many Neat looks from the perimeter. Their 65 points were one shy of their season low.
As the Last seconds ticked off the clock, Scheyer raised his arms in Triumph and wrapped Flagg in a bear hug before composing himself to go shake Oats’ hand. Minutes later, he addressed the pro-Duke crowd in Newark.
“Who’s ready to go to San Antonio?” he shouted into the microphone.
Duke is San Antonio-bound, and the way Scheyer is crushing it, this might be the Primary of many Last Fours to come.
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