Mike Krzyzewski built Duke to be a true blue blood in college basketball, racking up five national championships, 13 Final Four appearances, and a two time Hall of Famer.

But all good things must come to an end, as he prepared his former player Jon Scheyer to be his successor. Since Krzyzewski retired in 2022, Scheyer has upheld the Duke standard with three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, two ACC titles, and a Final Four appearance.

Scheyer had played for Coach K for four years, and won a championship in his senior year, but one of the parts of Scheyer’s game that made him so successful was his ability to shoot from the free throw line.

He ranks seventh in school history in total free throw percentage, so naturally, it’s only right to instill those philosophies to his team.

Duke has been one of the better teams shooting from the charity stripe, and has made it a point to take advantage of the free points.

Over the three seasons of him being at the helm, 36.2% of Duke’s points have been at the free throw line as compared to 32.2% from 3-point range.

The game of basketball has primarily turned into a perimeter shooting game, as opposed to what it used to be where there was a split between outside shooting and driving to the basket.

According to Duke Basketball Report, two of Scheyer-coached teams actually have some of the best free throw shooting percentages in school history.

In 2025, the Blue Devils had the second best shooting percentage at the line in program  history, converting on .790% of their shots, just one thousandth less than the all time leading team from 1978.

So perhaps it would be better off for the Blue Devils to attack the rim on a more consistent basis. 

With Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel on to the NBA, those are critical free throw shooters that Duke will greatly miss. Flagg averaged the third most free throw attempts in the ACC, and Knueppel was the seventh best free throw shooter in all of college basketball. 

With Cayden and Cameron Boozer coming in as the top two recruits in college basketball, the twins should be a major part of Duke’s offense. When they both take the floor, expect Cayden to be more of an inside presence as he continues to struggle with outside shooting.

Cameron is more of a winger that has developed a spot up shot, and in his senior year of high school, shot 36% from 3-point range. 

Either way Duke is going to have to find players to fill the void left by some of its top players moving on to the pros.

But it can be so simple.

If Duke is going to continue its success, it starts from the free throw line, and knowing how Scheyer operates, he won’t expect any less.