There's no doubt that Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer has turned into one of the best young coaches college basketball has to offer, and he's continuing to gain ground as one of the most respected in the game. CBS Sports has included Scheyer in their new list, where different insiders predict the next college hoops head coach to win their first national championship.
CBS Sports' Kyle Boone went with Scheyer, while David Cobb went with Kentucky's Mark Pope, Cameron Salerno went with Houston's Kelvin Sampson, and Isaac Trotter went with Texas Tech's Grant McCasland.
"It's not just postseason success at Duke that foretells of a coach bound to reach the pinnacle," Boone said. "Scheyer's 89 total wins since 2022-23 are second-most behind only Houston coach Kelvin Sampson and UConn coach Dan Hurley. (Sampson was a bounce away from his first title but is in the twilight of his career at 69, while Hurley has already got two rings.) That's tied for the most wins by a Division I head coach in their first three seasons joining Brad Stevens and Brad Underwood."
Scheyer is the youngest coach picked in the list by a wide margin, as Scheyer is 37 years old, Pope is 52 years old, Sampson is 69 years old, and McCasland is 48 years old.
Scheyer, who won a national title with the Blue Devils as a player in 2010, had potentially the hardest position to follow up after taking over for Mike Krzyzewski, regarded as one of, if not the best, coaches in college basketball history. Succeeding five national championships and 13 Final Four appearances is a daunting task, but Duke's new head man has done nothing but overachieve.
In his first three seasons as Duke head coach, Scheyer sits with an 81-19 record, not including the NCAA Tournament, winning at least 24 games in all three years. He's already led the Blue Devils to three NCAA Tournament appearances, an Elite Eight, a Final Four, and two ACC Tournament Championships.
Scheyer became the second first-year head coach in ACC history to lead his program to an ACC Tournament title in 2023.
One can argue Scheyer was inches away from his first national title in 2025, as the Blue Devils controlled their Final Four contest against Houston before a monumental collapse in the final few minutes sent the program home in absolute heartbreak.
In terms of recruiting, Scheyer has arguably been the best in the nation in that regard as well. He's secured the No. 1 overall recruiting class in two of his first three years as head coach and is looking to keep that streak going in 2026.
There are plenty of questions surrounding next year's Duke squad, but with Scheyer at the helm, competing for a national title is always in the cards.