There is no one who has had more heartbreaking moments for Duke basketball than Jon Scheyer.
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The Blue Devils’ fifth-year coach suffered one of his worst losses in this year’s Elite Eight stunner against UConn. While the 74-73 score doesn’t tell the full story of how Duke was outplayed in the final six minutes before Braylon Mullins hit the game-winning 3-pointer, the loss still feels the same.
Scheyer recently checked in with Westwood One’s Josh Graham and summed up the season for his team. The player-turned-coach did not downplay the situation, but instead took advantage of it as a moment to reflect and move forward.
“I’m not avoiding the fact that there is incredible heartbreak and disappointment when we lose like we did,” Scheyer told Graham. We have lost in two unimaginable ways in the last two seasons. At the same time, we have been to the Elite Eights back-to-back for the first time in over 30 years. We have had very good results in the tournament. “It just hasn’t ended with a win like we wanted.”
Duke has been in the middle of the “best team” conversation dating back to last year. However, none of the trips to the NCAA Tournament resulted in a championship game appearance. The Blue Devils took first overall in the tournament and struggled to find consistency, despite National Player of the Year Cameron Boozer leading the way. But Scheyer’s focus is on the process, as well as trying to achieve a better end result.
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“It would be one thing, and the scariest thing is, if we’re not around. The thing is, we’re knocking on the door. We’re right there,” Scheyer added. “And we just have to continue to find ways to gain the margin, regroup with a different team for next year and not give up.” Let’s continue like this. “We’re going to keep it up until we get there.”
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There were a lot of Duke fans emotionally overloaded after the loss to UConn. And rightly so. After being up by as many as 19 points in the second half, watching it fall apart is tough. No one can prepare a team to try to endure it all either. For what it’s worth, Scheyer isn’t going to live or die by one bad series in one game to sink a season of hard work.
“But the outside noise or the expectations, or anyone who tries to say it, because of one game that changes the outcome of an entire year. I’m not going to let that happen because this team deserves to be praised for the year they’ve had,” Scheyer said. “35-2 with the schedule we had before that game… unbelievable. And they’re a great group to coach.”
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FURTHER: Duke Blue Devils Basketball Transfer Portal Tracker Live Updates
Duke now regroups to determine the roster for next season. The transfer portal window is open with Scheyer trying to find players who are a good fit for his program.