Tag: Jon Scheyer

Memphis basketball hires former Duke Blue Devil to its coaching staff

According to a Wednesday report, former Duke basketball star Nolan Smith will join Penny Hardaway’s coaching staff at Memphis.

Former Duke basketball star Nolan Smith is back in the world of college basketball.

According to a Wednesday report from The Daily Memphian’s Parth Upadhyaya, Smith will serve as an assistant coach for Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers.

Smith played for the Blue Devils from 2007-11, and his 1,911 career points are 18th in school history and the seventh-most of any player this century. He and current Duke coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] teamed to win a national championship in 2010, the fourth title in school history. Smith scored 13 points in the championship game, a 61-59 victory over Butler, while Scheyer added 15 points of his own.

As a senior in 2010-11, Smith averaged 20.6 points per game.

A first-round pick in the 2011 NBA draft, Smith briefly played for the Portland Trail Blazers before returning to Durham as an assistant coach in 2016. He left for Louisville in 2022, where he’d spent the previous two seasons before this Memphis job.

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Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer wants to start a series with UConn

According to a Monday report, Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer has an idea for a future campus series with the Connecticut Huskies.

The Duke Blue Devils and Connecticut Huskies have played each other more on the football field than the basketball court over the past few years, but Duke head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] wouldn’t mind changing that trend.

According to a Monday report from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, Scheyer is “open to starting a series” with the two-time defending national champions.

Duke and UConn have combined to win 11 national championships since 1991, including six of the past 14 titles, but the two have never played each other in their own stadiums.

Duke has a 5-4 all-time record against UConn with wins in the last two matchups. The schools haven’t faced off since December 2014 when legendary head coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag] captained his team to a 66-56 victory on a neutral court. Tyus Jones led the team with 21 points in that game, and the Blue Devils won the most recent of their five championships at the end of that season.

The Blue Devils football team has also beaten Connecticut on the football field in each of the past two seasons, including a 26-21 comeback win on Saturday.

ESPN provides optimistic NBA draft outlook for Duke freshman Khaman Maluach

ESPN basketball writers Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo wrote about top 2025 draft prospects on Friday, including some optimism on Khaman Maluach.

Duke basketball brought in top-ranked freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] this offseason, the presumed No. 1 pick in next summer’s NBA draft, but he isn’t the only key prospect on the Blue Devils roster this year.

Head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] landed commitments from three other five-star prospects, including South Sudanese 7-footer [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag]. The NBA Academy Africa product represented his country at the 2024 Olympic Games, and at 17 years old, he was the youngest player in the competition.

ESPN basketball writers Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo released a Friday article elaborating on the most important college players to watch in 2024-25, and Woo sounded pretty bullish on Maluach’s chances to establish himself this fall and spring.

Woo pointed out that, while Maluach played pretty limited minutes in Paris, the incoming Blue Devil held his own against NBA MVPs and champions during a one-point exhibition loss to Team USA in July.

“Maluach’s above-average speed gives him a chance to be a high-impact player on defense,” Woo wrote. “He needs to work on positioning, awareness and patience as he habitually leaves his feet early to contest shots. But he has more tools than most players his age and size, pointing to his immense potential on that end.”

https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1834589737526411658

The optimism is a welcome change from recent trends around Maluach’s draft stock. When the rim protector first committed to the Blue Devils back in March, he was considered a slam-dunk top-five pick in the 2025 draft thanks to his tape and defensive ceiling. However, some uneven performances at exhibitions like the Nike Hoop Summit made fans question his learning curve for Division I basketball.

Combine that with the emergence of [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag], another five-star Duke signee and the darling of offseason workouts, and plenty of sites don’t even list Maluach as the second-best prospect on the Blue Devils anymore.

Even if Maluach looks more like his floor than his ceiling in November, he should be one of the best defenders in the country from the opening bell. He’ll be a shoo-in to average at least 1.5 blocks per game, and fans just need some patience if he looks rough around the edges before conference play.

Duke basketball shares behind-the-scenes photos from media day

Duke basketball posted some behind-the-scenes images from media day on Thursday, including the first looks at two freshmen and a transfer.

The Duke basketball team shared some behind-the-scenes photos from its media day on Thursday, giving Blue Devils fans some early looks at the new faces on the team.

With 10 players from the 2023-24 roster now in the NBA or with a different program, head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] brought in six freshmen and four transfers to replenish his team.

While [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the top-ranked player in the class, didn’t make an appearance on the team’s social media teaser, fellow five-star freshman [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] did. The Wisconsin native has emerged as one of the breakout stars from this summer as his teammates keep praising his shooting ability and he keeps rising higher on 2025 draft boards.

The team also shared an official glimpse at Tulane transfer [autotag]Sion James[/autotag], a presumed starter for the 2024-25 season. James, a muscular 6-foot-6 guard who weighs in at 220 pounds, averaged a career-high 14.0 points and 5.4 rebounds with the Green Wave last season.

[autotag]Caleb Foster[/autotag], one of two returning starters on the roster, showed back up in his No. 1 jersey after he’s spent the past few weeks as the new host of The Brotherhood Podcast.

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1834240549739462815

The Blue Devils have already shared some preseason scrimmage content on social media, but fans get their first look at the 2024-25 squad in action at the Countdown to Craziness on October 4.

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer visits five-star 2026 guard

Jordan Smith Jr., a top-10 player from the Class of 2026, received an in-school visit from Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer on Tuesday.

Duke basketball coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] has his eyes firmly set on another St. Paul VI Catholic High School recruit.

According to a Wednesday report from MADE Hoops’ Colby Giacubeno, Scheyer took an in-school visit with five-star 2026 shooting guard Jordan Smith Jr. on Tuesday.

Smith, who sits in the No. 8 spot on 247Sports’ 2026 recruiting rankings, stands 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds. As a sophomore last season, he helped lead the Panthers to a 35-3 record and a trip to the Chipotle Nationals championship game alongside seniors Darren Harris and Pat Ngongba II, two members of Duke’s 2024 recruiting class.

That title game featured a third incoming Blue Devil on the other side with Montverde Academy star [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the top-ranked freshman in the country, leading his team to a 79-63 victory.

Smith amassed six points, four rebounds, and two assists against Montverde despite his young age. He ended the three-game run through the bracket averaging 10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists, including a 15-point performance against IMG Academy in the quarterfinals.

Smith likely won’t make a decision in the near future with his junior year of high school just starting, but he’s a name for Duke basketball fans to keep circled for the future.

Duke basketball reportedly visits five-star 2025 forward Nate Ament

According to a Wednesday report from League Ready, the Blue Devils and seven other schools visited 2025 five-star Nate Ament.

The Duke basketball program tends to win over elite recruits, but head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] might have his hands full trying to land a commitment from five-star 2025 forward Nate Ament.

According to a report from League Ready’s Sam Kayser, the Blue Devils visited the Virginia native at school on Wednesday. However, so did seven other teams, including Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Virginia, Kansas State, Notre Dame, and Georgetown.

One of the consensus 10 best players in his class, Ament currently sits seventh on 247Sports’ 2025 rankings. The Highland School product has been on the Blue Devils’ radar for quite a while, and he took an unofficial visit with the program back in September.

Duke may have gotten a bonus last month when Ament attended the Nike Academy, where former Blue Devil [autotag]Dereck Lively II[/autotag] worked out with some of the country’s best players. However, with no timetable or finalists announced, who knows how long Scheyer will need to wait before finding out if Ament will play at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

https://twitter.com/247HSHoops/status/1831502969998602573

The Ament news came the same day as a separate report that Duke traveled to Riviera Preparatory School in Miami for some in-person scouting. The Blue Devils also hosted Cameron and Cayden Boozer, the twin sons of Duke legend Carlos Boozer and two top 2025 prospects, for a visit this weekend.

Popular college basketball analytics site leaves Duke outside top five in talent rating

According to one popular college basketball analytics site, the Duke Blue Devils aren’t one of the five most talented teams in the country.

Each and every member of the Duke basketball fandom has their eyes turned toward the national championship next spring. After all, the school that won the [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] sweepstakes should expect nothing less.

The presumed No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft isn’t the only talented addition for this coming season, however. Three other five-star freshmen joined him in the signing class, including [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag], who just represented South Sudan at the Olympics.

Add in two other four-star freshmen, three high-end transfers, and two returning starters, and the Blue Devils might arguably be the most talented team in the country, right?

Not according to the popular basketball analytics site barttorvik.com. Torvik recently released its 2024-25 preseason projections, and the Blue Devils came in a measly sixth place in the Projected Effective Talent ranking.

Two-time defending national champion Connecticut took the top spot despite losing multiple lottery picks to the NBA. Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, and the dreaded North Carolina Tar Heels also finished above the Blue Devils in order.

To be fair to Torvik, the Blue Devils still finished second in its barthag calculations, which is what decides the site’s national rankings. According to Torvik’s calculations, Jon Scheyer’s squad would have a 95.08% chance of beating an average team, second only to Houston. Duke sits third in the site’s adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, the only team within the top five in both categories.

Even with that level of Duke appreciation, however, the talent composite score feels head-scratching. After many analysts circled the Blue Devils as the team to beat back in May, there seems to be more and more national doubt centered around the number of freshmen expected to contribute to the 2024-25 season.

Torvik’s formula obviously won’t include such abstract questions, which makes the result even more curious. Yes, four-star sharpshooter Darren Harris likely won’t play much after he underwent surgery to fix a fractured hand, but he shouldn’t be the difference between first or second on the talent ranking and sixth.

Either way, however, the math still seems to believe in the Blue Devils.

College basketball writer ranks Duke’s Cameron Crazies as the nation’s best student section

College basketball reporter Andy Katz ranked the 10 best student sections on Tuesday, and it shouldn’t shock anyone who came in first.

College basketball fans won’t need to deal with the Cameron Crazies for another two months, but according to college basketball reporter Andy Katz, that might still be too soon.

Katz released his rankings of the 10 best student sections in the sport on Tuesday, and the Duke Blue Devils sat right at the top of the list.

Cameron Indoor Stadium might not match the capacity of some other names on the list. Purdue and Kansas sat second and third on Katz’s list, and both of those stadiums can seat more than 14,000 fans. Cameron Indoor can’t quite reach 10,000, but the building’s narrow design means Duke’s students sit nearly within arm’s reach of opposing players. Every Blue Devils fan has seen iconic photos of a North Carolina star inbounding a basketball with the Cameron Crazies stretching their arms out behind him, an intimacy that gives Duke an assured advantage.

Through two years of the [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] era, the Blue Devils are 31-3 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke basketball back up to a No. 1 seed in newest ESPN Bracketology projections

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released updated projections for the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, moving the Blue Devils back to the top line.

After a brief drop, the Duke basketball team is a No. 1 seed again in ESPN’s Bracketology.

Joe Lunardi, the longtime college basketball bracket expert, released an updated round of preseason projections on Tuesday. The Blue Devils, whom he dropped to a No. 2 seed back in June, shifted back up to join Kansas, Houston, and Alabama on the top line.

The Blue Devils, now led by top-ranked freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and the best recruiting class in the country, initially held the top overall seed when Lunardi first released his 2025 projections in April. However, thanks to a strong transfer class, the Jayhawks unseated Jon Scheyer’s team on top.

After some brief doubts about how many first-year players Duke will rely on in 2024-25, it seems like the Cooper Flagg hype train has finally won out.

North Carolina, one of five other ACC schools included in the projected bracket, made it as a No. 2 seed in another region. The two-time defending national champions, the Connecticut Huskies, actually matched as the second team in Duke’s East region.

The best photos of Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer on his birthday

In honor of Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer’s birthday, here are some of the best photos of the former national champion as a player and a coach.

The Duke basketball season is still months away, but Saturday marked an important day for the Blue Devils: head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag]’s birthday!

Scheyer stepped into the unenviable position of replacing five-time national champion [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag] two seasons ago, but all he’s done since then is win the ACC Tournament in 2023 and reach the Elite Eight in 2024. Now, he’s got his sights set on the school’s sixth national title after he brought in top-ranked freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and the No. 1 recruiting class in the country.

The new Duke coach succeeded on the court for the Blue Devils as well. A former point guard, Scheyer won a national championship as a senior in 2010, ending his collegiate run on the mountaintop. He played in 144 games across his four-year career, starting 108 of them, and he averaged 18.2 points and 4.9 assists per game in 2009-10.

Here are the best photos of Scheyer in Duke’s signature blue, from his playing career to the start of his coaching run.