Jon Scheyer believes Coach K has given him 'amazing room to be myself'

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer acknowledged Mike Krzyzewski gave him a lot of room to mold the Blue Devils in his own vision. Sure, Coach K still has a presence around the program.

However, he allowed Scheyer to be himself and didn’t want to be an overseer type. Duke is now two wins away from a national title.

Krzyzewski gave Scheyer advice of course, as any man of his stature likely would to his replacement. Duke has Scheyer’s fingerprints now, but Coach K still has an effect behind the scenes.

“I mean, basically that’s true. Coach K has given me amazing room to be myself,” Scheyer said. “Really the only advice he gave me from the beginning was to be true to me, to be true to myself. I already knew that. But for him to remind me of that from time to time has been important. I think he understands when he’s around just the gravity and the people looking at him and all that. But we’ve gotten to a point, one, our communication has been the same all the time.

“I’ll tell you for me, in the toughest moments that I’ve had as a head coach my first three years, the person that I call is him. For him to talk me through different moments or situations, not many coaches still have their coach, and I do. I couldn’t be more grateful for that.”

Jon Scheyer thankful for Coach K influence on Duke

Is it a coincidence that Duke is doing a lot of winning under Scheyer this season with Krzyzewski being around more? All joke aside, Scheyer actually referred to that.

“The thing I have loved is he’s come around more this year. He’s come to some home games,” Scheyer said. “He hasn’t come to a tournament game yet. I hope we can see him in San Antonio. But he’s crossing paths with our guys. I love when he all of a sudden has a conversation with Cooper in the hallway or saying something to Khaman because I want them to know the guy that I was coached by. I think it’s been, like, a beautiful thing, very organic and natural with Coach K and I, the fact that we’re still tight as could be. I’ve wanted this. I want him to be proud when he watches us …

“The last thing I would say is not many coaches truly want the program to succeed once they’re done. I think part of his legacy forever will be the fact that he set our program up for such success, and we’re able to be in a Final Four in year three. It’s a credit to him and how the succession has gone down.”