Jon Scheyer may lead one of college basketball's preeminent powers, but he is still relatively new at this head-coaching thing. The former Duke guard has gone a combined 124-25 overall and 65-13 in ACC play over his four seasons leading his alma mater's basketball program. He has reached two Elite Eights and gotten the Blue Devils to one Final Four, all before the age of 40. We cannot overlook this...
It is why former Duke star Jay Bilas went to bat for his guy when interviewed by PFSN late last month.
"Jon Scheyer has done an amazing job at Duke. In the four years he’s been head coach, I mean, he reached the Final Four, a couple of Elite Eights. It’s been really remarkable, and he’s done it with different rosters each year. Duke is still getting these superstar freshmen and then putting more experienced players around them, and I think it’s worked out really well.
While much has been made about Bilas praising Scheyer so far, this last bit really hammers it home.
“Certainly the way the game against Houston in the Final Four with Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel ended, and then the way the UConn game this last year in the Elite Eight ended certainly were unpleasant for them, but you kind have to look at the overall picture and what it took to beat them, it is pretty impressive. So, he’s done an amazing job. And given his age, I mean, who could have expected anything more? It’s been incredible to watch.”
If we were to take a gander at what Scheyer's predecessor and mentor Mike Krzyzewski did over the same span, Scheyer has him beat. Coach K spent his first five seasons as a head coach at Army from 1975 to 1980. He took over the Blue Devils in 1980 before turning them into a national power from the mid-1980s on. It took him four years at Duke to make the tournament, six to reach the Final Four...
Krzyzewski may have built Duke into what it is now as a program, but Scheyer is still figuring this out.
Jay Bilas understands Jon Scheyer needs more time to win a national title
Scheyer may have a top-three team entering his fifth year at the helm, but let's not forget how long it took for Coach K to win his first national title at Duke. It came in year 11 for him in Durham way back in 1990-91. Bilas, who starred for him in the frontcourt the mid-1980s, was long gone by then. Coach K would go on to win five national titles as one of the greatest head coaches in the sport of basketball.
Of course, Scheyer faces immense pressure being the man who replaced the legend, and not the man who replaced the man who replaced the legend. He may have inherited a program that largely runs itself, but as he grows more into this role, the better off Duke will be. Year five for Kryzezwski as a college head coach was his final one at West Point. He went 9-17 that year, the worst during that run...
Read more: Duke's biggest threat in ACC play next season is only one late transfer addition away
Yes, it may be a different world than from when Coach K was in the first third of his time in Durham. However, we are already seeing Scheyer go toe-to-toe with some of the best coaches in the sport today. His last two postseason losses came to Dan Hurley of UConn and Kelvin Sampson of Houston. Both are among the very best at what they do in the sport. They were growing moments for Scheyer.
College basketball fans may expect the world out of Scheyer, but Bilas knows this will take some time.
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