Jon Scheyer explains how Duke is doing things differently this summer

Duke head basketball coach Jon Scheyer led the Blue Devils to their second straight 27–9 finish last season in year two as the program’s head coach after following in the footsteps of legend Mike Krzyzewski. With Duke advancing to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament this past season following a second round elimination the previous year.

Per usual, the Blue Devils will be replacing key players with young and talented additions to the team as they now start working towards maintaining their high standards. But in a recent conversation with former Duke player and current college basketball analyst Jay Bilas, Scheyer revealed that this summer he’s shifting the approach with his team.

“Well obviously the summer’s a time you have to get to know someone. Your family, and your background, and what sports did you play growing up, what music do you like?” Scheyer asked. “Like all that stuff is important, but to me ultimately what I’ve learned in my time at Duke, and for this place, and maybe different somewhere else, but you really bond by doing hard things together.”

In every sport, wins during the season are forged from hard work in the offseason. Which Scheyer will emphasize this summer as he strives to make the team’s chemistry closer by pushing them physically and mentally in their workouts.

“And so this summer, we’re going to do things differently this summer. Typically, we’ve used it to gradually work our way in doing all mostly all individual work, where this summer’s going be more team stuff,” Scheyer explained. “And we’re gonna do hard things, whether it be conditioning, whether it be our practices, we’re going to challenge these guys and not where they have to survive individually. Where as a team, they have to figure out how to win. One day it’s me and you versus somebody else, and then next day, we’re going against each other and that’s the way you bond.”

This offseason Duke brings in the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class according to On3’s Industry Ranking, highlighted by the consensus No. 1 high school prospect in the country Cooper Flag. A player that will likely depart for the NBA Draft following one season with the Blue Devils.

And given that reality of college basketball, Scheyer will place a premium on building up a veteran level of toughness for his players both physically and mentally ahead of what could be their lone season with the Duke program.

“You were here four years, I was here four years, just different eras,” Scheyer said to Bilas. “But similar in the fact that I was a much different players a senior and then I wasn’t a freshman, I know you would say the same, right?”

“Absolutely,” Bilas replied.

“So now we have to do it in a year and so that process is sped up. We can still get there, but how it looks, how it feels will be different,” Scheyer said. “For you, I know you think back to how many moments did you go through your first few years to get to being such a good player by the end of it? And it’s the toughness, it’s hard to explain right?”

It will be intriguing to see how Scheyer’s change in philosophy will impact Duke ahead of his third season with the program, with the standards in Durham remaining sky-high regardless of the outcome.