Within the afterglow of a 20-point win within the Elite Eight, earlier than his gamers poured blue and white confetti over him, Jon Scheyer shared a second on the courtroom together with his spouse, Marcelle, and certainly one of their youngsters, outfitted with noise-canceling headphones.
In simply three years, he had achieved it. Scheyer coached Duke again to the Ultimate 4 — this system’s first since some man named Mike Krzyzewski nonetheless patrolled the sidelines.
The overwhelmingly pro-Duke crowd in New Jersey celebrated not solely a workforce with three NBA lottery picks but additionally a coach who has efficiently prolonged the varsity’s basketball legacy into the present NIL- and portal-driven period.
Hardly ever does a succession plan go off as seamlessly as Krzyzewski to Scheyer.
“Look, as I used to be going by the interview course of, I did my homework,” Scheyer stated Saturday evening after Duke defeated Alabama 85-65. “If you have a look at successions, very not often … do folks succeed following — Coach Ok is certainly one of one, however following a legendary or an ideal coach.”
I not too long ago criticized the apply of legendary coaches hand-picking their successors, however Scheyer is the exception that proves the rule. Right here’s the distinction: Coach Ok named him head coach in ready a full yr forward of time as he launched into his farewell tour.
Scheyer, a Krzyzewski pupil who was the Blue Devils’ affiliate head coach for 4 years, credited that yr of preparation and his boss’s “imaginative and prescient” for planning out the long run.
“So clearly there’s a duty you are feeling and a satisfaction,” Scheyer stated. “However this hasn’t been about outdoors noise for me as a result of it’s simply — I don’t know in the event you can ever win. So my vitality has gone into everyone that’s in our constructing, our workforce, what we are able to management.”
Is Duke’s Cooper Flagg a generational star? Indubitably. However Flagg shot 6-for-16 on Saturday evening, at one level lacking eight photographs out of 9. He didn’t will a mediocre workforce ahead on his personal.
There was huge enchancment from returning gamers like Tyrese Proctor, who scored 17 factors, and Caleb Foster, who had 5 factors and three assists in key reserve minutes. Each had been a part of Duke’s Elite Eight loss to North Carolina State final March.
“We’ve been by a lot collectively, and I don’t assume I may put into phrases the feelings that we had collectively,” Proctor stated of his coach. “Final yr clearly the best way it ended wasn’t how we wished. And simply having the belief in him and him placing all his belief in me, simply with the ability to lead these guys has been big.”
The final level is the obvious: The Blue Devils took an Alabama workforce that made an NCAA Event-record 25 3-pointers within the earlier spherical vs. BYU and neutralized that assault, permitting simply 8 of 32. They held Alabama scoreless for five:16 down the stretch. Such stringent protection — a energy all yr lengthy — is reflective of a well-coached workforce.
There’s simply no weak point right here. We throw that evaluation round rather a lot within the media, nevertheless it’s not often warranted. To get this dominant, the teaching have to be elite, irrespective of your blue-blood standing or what number of NBA stars you’ve received.
Scheyer reached a Ultimate 4 as a participant at Duke. He made it once more whereas on Krzyzewski’s workers. And subsequent week, he’ll be there as a head coach, deserving each minute of it.
