Duke basketball: Answer to program’s looming question is already there

Jon Scheyer

Jon Scheyer is young, smart, and has learned from one of the best to ever do it. He has shown the ability to recruit and connect with the nation’s best players.

Another advantage is the connection that he has with his teammate, fellow champion, and now fellow coach Nolan Smith. Smith has also proven to be a savvy social media presence and recruiter, and the trust they share from playing together is a positive dynamic to have on the staff since they know each other so well. One would think there would be an open dialogue even more than usual with the ultimate goal being the same for both men.

It’s also another chance to show the trust and opportunity that can come with the program well beyond the playing days on the court. As we have seen with the infighting and innuendo coming from some of the fairer-weathered neighbors, Duke basketball blue is something you can believe in, and a Jon Scheyer hire would continue to confirm the truthfulness in the meaning of The Brotherhood.

Jon Scheyer has proven it as a player that he would do whatever it took to win. It could have been starting all 33 games and becoming the team’s third-leading scorer on his way to an All-ACC Freshman Team selection or only starting one game the next year as a sophomore. He did come off the bench to be one of the nation’s best sixth men and still holds the Duke basketball record with 27 points in a game as a bench scorer.

He was a two-time captain. He was an All-American. His name is littered across the all-time lists of Duke basketball. He led the 2010 Blue Devils in scoring, assists, FT percentage, and steals on the way to an ACC title and national title as well. He remains the only Duke basketball player to ever record 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists, 250 3-point makes, and 200 steals. He probably should have his jersey hanging in the rafters for what he has done as a player.

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He would definitely get his name up there for winning a title — whatever number it might be — if he could do it as a coach of the Blue Devils. As Coach K noted himself back when Jon was about to hoist up another ACC Tournament title, “There’s something about Scheyer that produces wins…He’s never afraid.”

That’s the perfect man, in the perfect moment, to take the job and hopefully lead Duke basketball to continued success for the next 40 years.

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