Jon Scheyer spent the offseason getting the most connected group he could

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer sat down with the Field of 68 Network to discuss the excitements and what he's expecting out of his 2024-25 team. Field of 68 Network members John Fanta, Jeff Goodman, Rob Dauster, and Terrence Oglesby held the conversation at the first day of ACC Men's Basketball Media Day.

The group talked to Blue Devils Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor earlier in the afternoon, and the two said this Duke team has an "edge" different than in years past. Scheyer talked about the DNA of this group and what he expects.

"The most important thing for me coming off of the first two years being the head coach is getting the most competitive group I possibly could get, and being really connected. And, I think that's the hardest thing to do now in college basketball, and in order to do that you have to have the right people."

Duke has gotten tons of buzz throughout the preseason as potentially being one of the more dominant defensive teams in the country with the group's positional size and length mixed with its versatility. The one thing that will have to be seen is the team's motor on that end of the floor. Duke has all the tools to be the best defensive squad in the ACC this season, but having that tenacious nature that comes with it will elevate that side of the ball to the next level.

Obviously, Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg had to be apart of the conversation as he is probably the most exciting college prospect since Anthony Davis. Scheyer was asked about how he built his team around Flagg, if that was his approach.

"There's no question you feel you have a special guy in Cooper and you want to complement him as much as you can and, the two things for a guy like him, or for anybody, but you need great physicality, which is, alright Mason Gillis checks that box, Maliq Brown checks that box, Sion James checks that box. But also high feel, high IQ players that can shoot, and really everybody on our roster can make a three."

Duke hasn't had a true elite three-point shooting team since 2017, and it's been an issue across recent years with inconsistencies from beyond the arc in certain matchups. Having a team that can reliably make threes across the board with its overwhelming size is a big reason why Duke will probably enter the season as an AP Top 10 team.

Rob Dauster later brought Tyrese Proctor into the conversation and how he hasn't particularly lived up to expectations that were set for him coming into Durham with his high pedigree beforehand. Dauster compared him to former Blue Devil Wendell Moore, who had somewhat underwhelming freshman and sophomore campaigns before breaking out as a junior with a fair amount more talent around him. He asked Scheyer if there were some parallels between Proctor and Moore as Proctor gears up for his hopeful breakout junior season.

"We've actually used Wendell just to talk to Tyrese about because, Wendell became like a different guy you know, even athletically his junior year, you know he wasn't explosive, or as explosive his first two years. You know, Tyrese, if you saw him in practice, he's dunking like crazy, he's moving, physically he's much stronger."

This Duke team has some of the most potential to win a championship out of Blue Devil groups over the last decade or so. Although it's just the preseason, it just doesn't seem like this squad has a ton of weaknesses, and the guys will continue to get better and get more connected like Scheyer talked about as we inch closer to the college basketball season.