Jon Scheyer has put the Duke basketball program on the cusp of a National Championship nearly every season since he’s taken over the head coaching position, but he will face an inordinate amount of pressure to win the title this season.
In its three exhibition games, the Blue Devils have arguably looked like the best team in the country, dismantling Belmont and No. 8 Tennessee before going into Allen Fieldhouse and beating No. 17 Kansas.
Not only has Jon Scheyer constructed a team that might have more talent than his previous two teams, each of which had a Top 3 pick in the NBA Draft in Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer, but the depth is very apparent.
Duke will likely have three 5-star freshman – Deron Rippey Jr., Cameron Williams, and Bryson Howard – coming off the bench as well as either senior captain Caleb Foster or sophomore point guard Cayden Boozer.
John Blackwell has proven to be one of the best pure scorers in the country and freshman Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje is poised to be one of the best players in the nation and develop into a phenom in the sport.
Not to mention the leap Dame Sarr has taken entering his sophomore year while Patrick Ngongba looked like one of the best centers in the country and a potential Top 10 pick in June’s NBA Draft.
It begs the question for Jon Scheyer that if he can’t win the title this year with this team, when will he?
Winning the National Championship in college basketball – landing six consecutive wins in March Madness – is one of the most difficult things to win. A heartbreaking end to the season is something that Duke fans have been accustomed to, given the championship-or-bust mentality of the program, but Scheyer has the team to finally break through.
Duke will learn how good it truly is early in the season with matchups against Michigan State, Illinois, UConn, and Florida in the first month of the season and wins in at least three of those games will only raise the championship expectations – if that’s even possible.
Jon Scheyer has perfectly navigated the changing landscape of college basketball and elevated the Duke basketball program to one of the biggest brands in sports but now it’s time for him to add major hardware to his resume.
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