Duke men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer signs contract extension with the Blue Devils
Duke and head men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer have agreed on a new contract through the 2028-29 season.
Saying he felt “lucky to be at Duke,” the 36-year-old Scheyer said he and Duke athletics director Nina King had been working on this deal “for some time.”
“I think it’s great,” Scheyer said Friday night at the team’s Countdown to Craziness event. “It’s important. I’m committed to Duke. To know that they’re committed to me as well and our staff and the job we’ve done is great.”
Scheyer led Duke to a 27-9 record, including an ACC championship, during his first season as head coach. When Mike Krzyzewski decided in April 2021 he would retire following the 2021-22 season, Duke selected Scheyer as his replacement.
Duke senior guard Jeremy Roach, who as a sophomore helped the Blue Devils make the Final Four in Krzyzewski’s last season, said there’s no doubt Scheyer is the right man to lead Duke basketball.
“There’s not a better guy to take Coach K’s job than Coach Scheyer,” Roach said. “Obviously, you saw what happened last year, ACC championship and then the recruiting class he has this year....Everything speaks for itself; why he should be the longtime coach, why he got that extension, and why Duke put so much faith in him. He’s the best guy.”
A former Duke guard and team captain under Krzyzewski who helped the Blue Devils win the 2010 NCAA championship, Scheyer had been on Krzyzewski’s Duke staff since 2013.
He quickly established himself as one of the nation’s top recruiters, helping Duke bring in recruiting classes ranked either first or second nationally every year. Since being named as Krzyzewski’s successor, Scheyer’s first two classes were ranked No. 1 in the country.
The Blue Devils are hoping for the same in 2024. The top player in that class, 6-foot-8 forward Cooper Flagg, began his official visit to Duke on Friday and is attending the team’s Countdown to Craziness event at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
With three committed players, Duke’s 2024 class is currently ranked No. 4 nationally by 247sports.com. In addition to Flagg, Duke is also a finalist for the nation’s No. 2-ranked player, guard Dylan Harper from New Jersey.
On the court, Scheyer’s first season coaching the Blue Devils included the team winning all 16 home games in addition to winning the ACC Tournament at Greensboro. Duke had, by its lofty standards, a slow start by suffering three losses prior to Jan. 1. In ACC play, the Blue Devils absorbed an 84-60 loss at N.C. State and were 14-6 overall (5-4 in ACC play) through the season’s first 20 games.
But the team found its footing from there, including a 10-game winning streak that began in February and stretched in to the NCAA Tournament before Tennessee eliminated the Blue Devils in the second round.
“Especially for only coaching one year and seeing that how successful we were last year, that’s really great for him, just seeing how much faith this university has in him,” Duke sophomore forward Kyle Filipowski said.
This season, Duke is ranked No. 2 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll. The team returns four starters from last season’s team and did not lose a player to the transfer portal.
“We’ve got 12 guys on scholarship,” Scheyer said. “All 12 of them were being recruited by other places. They could have gone pro they could have done other things.
“I told the crowd they’re committed to Duke. Hopefully, everybody in this room knows I’m committed to Duke, too, and so that’s been something for me, just seeing the crowd tonight. Seeing the support has been such a special thing, but it’s an honor for me to be the coach and I’ll never take that for granted.”
This story was originally published October 20, 2023 at 7:02 PM.