Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer has opened up on the hardest part of coaching in college basketball.
Jon Scheyer is now in his fourth season as Duke Blue Devils head basketball coach, replacing the legendary Mike Krzyzewski. Those are some massive shoes to fill, and thus far, Scheyer is doing a tremendous job.
Duke has gone 100-23 since Scheyer took over, reaching the Final Four last March. But as Krzyzewski himself knew very well, there are heavy expectations in Durham.
The problem is that Duke is always recruiting some of the best players in the country, so Scheyer understands that many of them will bolt after one year.
During a recent appearance on The Brotherhood Podcast, Scheyer revealed that the variability is the most difficult part of being a head coach.
"So, I think that's by far the most challenging thing: is preparing to have the best team you possibly can have each year while facing great uncertainty, especially for us because we have a lot guys that have opportunities of going to the NBA right away — which is great, but that makes it difficult to plan," Scheyer said.
We saw a perfect example of this last June, when all five of the Blue Devils' starters from last season (Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach, Sion James and Tyrese Proctor) were all selected in the NBA Draft. The former three were all first-round selections.
Duke Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer. Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images.Scheyer will surely be losing Cameron Boozer — not to mention other key pieces — after the 2025-26 campaign, so the cycle will continue.
Of course, Scheyer is not alone in that regard, and he surely knows that.
Whether it's Duke, UConn, Kentucky or other top college basketball programs, the significant turnover will always exist.
It's definitely different from years past, when even the best players would stay in school for multiple years before heading to the NBA Draft.
But Scheyer will have to adjust like everyone else.
Duke is 11-1 this season, having suffered its first loss of the year to Texas Tech last weekend. The Blue Devils will play again on New Year's Even, when they face Georgia Tech to begin ACC conference play.
The ACC certainly looks tough this year, with 10 teams having already registered double-figure wins. We'll see where Duke finishes when it's all said and done.