Duke basketball: Kentucky assistant coach turns down Jon Scheyer

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer was turned down by a Kentucky assistant. 

Since Jon Scheyer was officially named as the next head coach of the Duke basketball program, he has not been denied very often — if at all.

However, that has changed thanks to a Kentucky assistant coach.

According to Brendan Marks of The Athletic, Scheyer went to a rival of the Blue Devils to try and fill the final spot on the Duke coaching staff, but Jai Lucas turned down the new leader of the historic program.

Lucas, an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Kentucky, will remain with John Calipari and the Wildcats for his third season in Lexington.

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Duke has seen a lot of turnover with its coaching staff since the official retirement of Mike Krzyzewski, naturally opening up an assistant coaching role with the promotion of Scheyer.

Nolan Smith left Durham for an associate coaching position with Louisville, and Amile Jefferson, the director of basketball operations for Duke, was promoted as an assistant coach with the Blue Devils.

Scheyer also hired Mike Schrage, the former Elon head coach, to be on his staff as a special assistant to the head coach. It is clearly noted that Schrage is not an assistant coach and there is still one vacant spot on the Duke staff.

Chris Carrawell remains in his role as an associate head coach under Jon Scheyer.

Reaching out to Kentucky assistant means a lot for Duke basketball head coach

The contact between Jon Scheyer and Jai Lucas will not mean much to most people, but it is a major deal to those around the Blue Devil program.

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Mike Krzyzewski exclusively hired former Duke players to his coaching staff in recent decades, but Scheyer is already putting his own twist on the program and is willing to go outside of ‘The Brotherhood’ to make a coaching hire.

It is still unclear who the final assistant will be for the first-year head coach, but Scheyer is leaving no stone unturned by reaching out to a coach in a rival’s program.