Duke Blue Devils new head coach Jon Scheyer adds to staff

Now that the men’s college basketball season is officially over, the Duke Blue Devils have begun transitioning from coach Mike Krzyzewski to Jon Scheyer. And on Tuesday, news broke about Scheyer’s adjustments to his new coaching staff. According to Jon Rothstein, Elon university’s head basketball coach Mike Schrage is expected to join the Blue Devils’ staff for the start of the post Coach K era.

“Elon head coach Mike Schrage has resigned, per release. According to multiple sources, he’s expected to return to Duke — where he once worked under Mike Krzyzewski — to be on Jon Scheyer’s staff,” wrote Rothstein via Twitter.

Schrage previously served as Director of Basketball Operations for the Blue Devils from 2002 to 2008. Afterward, he held assistant coaching positions with various schools, including the Stanford Cardinal and Ohio State Buckeyes, from 2008 to 2019. In 2019 is when he accepted the head coaching position for Elon.

Kenny Payne, Louisville steal key Duke assistant for first major hire

In hopes of restoring Louisville‘s men’s basketball program, new head coach Kenny Payne is off to a pretty strong start at his alma mater. While Payne has already convinced three Cardinals’ players to return for next season, the coach is now starting to assemble his inaugural staff – and he has made his first hire.

According to Marc Spears of ESPN, Payne has hired Duke assistant coach Nolan Smith to be his associate head coach at Louisville. Smith – who also played for the Blue Devils – is a Louisville native, as his late father, Derek, was a standout for the Cardinals.

After a successful run on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff at Duke, Smith is now set to return home and help Payne build back Louisville’s program – which took a step backwards under former head coach Chris Mack.

Smith, 33, played four seasons at Duke from 2007-2011 – averaging 13.4 points over the span of his career with the Blue Devils. He was selected 21st overall in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and played a couple of NBA seasons before taking the overseas route.

Smith joined Duke’s staff in February of 2016 as the special assistant before being promoted to director of basketball operations and player development in March of 2018. He became an assistant coach under Krzyzewski in April of 2021.