Jon Scheyer and Duke have reached the Final Four, signifying another milestone in the transition from legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski to Scheyer.
It’s the first time in 48 years that Duke has reached the Final Four with someone other than Krzyzewski as head coach. It’s been so long that the NCAA Tournament only had 32 teams when Bill E. Foster and the Blue Devils made the Final Four back in 1978.
Krzyzewski took over for Foster just a couple of years later and the rest is history. 15 ACC Tournament Titles. 13 Final Fours. 5 National Championships.
This is Scheyer’s third season since taking over for Coach K. Scheyer also had a year as a coach-in-waiting at Duke after Krzyzewski publicly announced his plans to retire, which Scheyer credits for helping to ease this transition. After Duke’s triumphant win over Alabama on Saturday night, Scheyer spoke about why he’s been able to find more success than most coaches who follow in the footsteps of icons.
“When you look at successions, very rarely do people succeed … following a legendary or a great coach,” Scheyer said. “I’ll tell you, for me, a huge thing was having that year, though. For Coach K to be able to have the vision — I don’t know how many coaches genuinely want to see the program succeed when they leave. And for me, I’ve always wanted to make him proud.
“Part of his legacy isn’t just the wins. I want his legacy to be how our program continues to be right there as a top program, and that’s something Coach K and I have talked a lot about.”
By any measure, Scheyer is off to an impressive start as Duke’s head coach. After winning 27 games in each of his previous 2 seasons at the helm, Scheyer now had Duke back in the Final Four for the first time since Krzyzewski’s final season.
Duke will face either Tennessee or Houston in the Final Four in San Antonio next weekend.
