It would be far from a surprise to Jon Scheyer that he might never get the awards recognition he deserves as the Duke head coach. Grand success in Durham is the expectation, both inside and outside the program. So even when you accomplish something remarkable, as Scheyer has done with this Blue Devils squad, it might fly under the radar.
Mike Krzyzewski was the National Coach of the Year just three times in his career, and never won it again after the 1999 season. Coach K's final ACC Coach of the Year came in 2000.
And despite Scheyer leading Duke to a 27-2 mark and capturing at least a share of the ACC Regular Season crown while being in the driver's seat for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, it's not likely that he'll end up winning the National - or ACC - Coach of the Year awards.
Even though he deserves both.
247 Sports' Isaac Trotter stated the case on X after Duke's total annihilation of Virginia on Saturday afternoon:
Jon Scheyer's case for National Coach of the Year should look like this:
— Isaac Trotter (@Isaac__Trotter) February 28, 2026
1. Five draft picks depart; still the king of an improved ACC
2. This defensive personnel isn't special but has been coached into a monster
3. Every player in the rotation is better now than two months ago
Nobody has done a better coaching job this year than Jon Scheyer
Duke will always reload rather than rebuild. The Blue Devils do an exceptional job with high school recruiting, and landing Cameron Boozer, who has been every bit as good and impactful as Cooper Flagg was a year ago, softened the blow of losing the NBA's No. 1 draft pick.
But Duke also lost two additional Top 10 picks in Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach. Both Sion James and Tyrese Proctor were second-round picks to boot.
And Trotter might be selling it short on the NBA Draft. Duke initially landed Washington State transfer wing Cedric Coward in the Transfer Portal, but an outstanding performance at the NBA Combine led to Coward staying in the draft.
Coward was drafted No. 11 by the Memphis Grizzlies and has had a strong rookie season in the NBA. Think about how good Duke is right now, and how much better they would be if they added another NBA wing to this roster.
And somehow, Duke has been just as good - if not better - than it was a year ago. That has been buoyed by its defense, which ranks No. 1 in KenPom's defensive efficiency metric. Its performance on the defensive end against Virginia was a microcosm of the season. Duke held the Cavs to a season-low in points and field-goal percentage.
And the game-by-game improvement by this team has been obvious. Scheyer has the Blue Devils peaking at just the right time.