If you listen closely, you can hear Duke's rivals picking up the goalposts and moving them. The narrative has changed because Jon Scheyer has forced it to with how good he has been during his first four seasons as the Blue Devils' head coach.
When Scheyer was initially tabbed to replace the legendary Mike Krzyzewski, fans down Tobacco Road and everywhere outside of Durham were convinced Duke was going to fall off. They would never be the same without Coach K.
And now, after Scheyer has proven to be a more than worthy successor with back-to-back ACC titles and last season's Final Four run, he's only successful because he's at Duke. Because it's easy, says them. Scheyer was born on third base - what he's doing isn't impressive. Anyone could do it.
Let them talk. Because they are always going to find a way to discredit anything associated with Duke. But Blue Devils fans know the truth: what Scheyer has done is remarkably impressive, particularly this season after replacing five NBA Draft picks from a season ago, including a generational talent in Cooper Flagg.
And the numbers just don't lie.
After Duke's blowout win over NC State on Monday night, Scheyer's 117th victory tied former Butler head coach turned Celtics coach/executive Brad Stevens with the most wins by a D1 coach in his first four seasons in college basketball history:
Jon Scheyer improves to 117-24 at Duke after beating NC State 🤯
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) March 3, 2026
His 117 wins tie Butler's Brad Stevens for the most by a D-I coach in their first four seasons 🔥 pic.twitter.com/PApULjlFbz
Jon Scheyer is a win away from passing Brad Stevens for most wins through four seasons
And boy, wouldn't it be fitting for Scheyer to grab that record by beating North Carolina on Saturday night at Cameron?
It's not supposed to be this easy to replace a legend. Coach K is the greatest college basketball coach of all time, and he left remarkably big shoes to fill in Durham. Scheyer is filling them.
These transitions rarely go this smoothly.
The Blue Devils haven't skipped a beat with Scheyer on the bench. There's only one thing left for him to do, and that's end the 11-year drought and bring the national championship trophy back home where it belongs.