Duke basketball: Jon Scheyer explains what he looks for in prospects while recruiting

The Blue Devil head coach knows what he's looking for while on the recruiting trail

NC State v Duke; Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer
NC State v Duke; Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer | Lance King/GettyImages

Jon Scheyer has not been a head coach for very long but as an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski he spent a lot of time on the recruiting trail and knows exactly what to look for in high school prospects.

The 36-year old is spending a lot of time this week in Augusta, South Carolina for the Nike EYBL Peach Jam and Overtime caught up with the Blue Devil leader to ask him what he is looking for in recruits.

"We look for who competes," Scheyer explained.

"End of the day, who competes in this environment, that's what it's all about for us."

Duke has yet to land a 2025 or 2026 prospect in the recruiting cycle but the Blue Devils remain involved for the top two ranked players in the senior class, AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer.

The Blue Devils are coming off having the No. 1 recruiting class in the country in 2024, headlined by Cooper Flagg, who is the top prospect in the class. Duke has three 5-star players entering campus this fall with two 4-star recruits.

Since Scheyer took over the program, he has cultivated a Top-2 class in each offseason.

Duke had the No. 1 recruiting class in 2021 and No. 2 in 2022. Only one player from last year's recruiting class, Caleb Foster, returned to the program for another season after Jared McCain declared for the NBA Draft while Sean Stewart and TJ Power elected to transfer.

However, despite landing six recruits for this season, the head coach recently explained that he does not expect to put as many freshmen on his roster as in previous years due to the heightened significance on the transfer portal. The Blue Devils added four transfers this offseason after not utilizing the portal at all during the previous year.

Jon Scheyer will continue to see some of the top recruits in the country at Peach Jam this weekend.

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