Jon Scheyer proud of Duke players for overcoming adversity

Not many teams in the country rely on freshmen as much as Duke. Four of the Bleu Devils’ top six scorers were playing high school basketball a year ago and are getting their first taste of the college game. Head coach Jon Scheyer is a newby himself, making everything in Durham a fresh experience.

A lot of firsts have been dropped over the past few months, with the most recent one arguably being the most valuable. Many got their first road win over North Carolina on Saturday to close out the regular season. It’s a sign of maturity according to Scheyer, showing growth late in the season.

“They understand it now,” Scheyer said. “It’s a matter of getting there and growing up. I don’t look at these guys as freshmen anymore. I’m proud of them. I’m just proud of them for what they’ve been through. Any noise, anything else. They just hung tough.”

Conference play was rocky to begin, sitting with an 8-6 record following back-to-back losses in early February. Duke then rattled off six wins in a row, including two against NC State and then North Carolina.

Duke, Jon Scheyer close North Carolina game out strong

Scheyer then dove into the North Carolina game specifically, explaining the game plan. Playing at the Dean Dome is no easy task, especially when the Tar Heels are fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives. The goal was to just play Duke basketball and respond when punched in the mouth.

“We talked about before the game just staying the course,” Scheyer said. “We know what the gameplan is, we know what we have to do. We’re not going to be perfect and so how do you respond when that happens?”

Duke has struggled to close on the road as well. Prior experiences were mentioned by the head coach, saying his team knows the feeling of being on the losing end. The learning experience paid off in a big way for the rivalry game.

“We’ve been in those situations before,” Scheyer said. “At Clemson, at Virginia Tech. Just learning, hating the feeling of the results of those games and then doing what’s required in order to not feel that way.”

Duke will now transition to the ACC Tournament, looking to add a conference title in Year One of Scheyer. They are firmly in the field of 68 as far as the big dance goes but could use some seed improvement while in Greensboro.