Jon Scheyer reveals what he told Jeremy Roach in handshake line after Duke win vs. Baylor

The Duke Blue Devils lost a veteran player in Jeremy Roach when he chose to transfer to the Baylor Bears. That wasn’t the last head coach Jon Scheyer would see him on a college court, though, with the two running into one another in the NCAA Tournament.

After the Duke win, while shaking hands, Scheyer had an opportunity to briefly speak to Roach. After the game, he shared publicly that in the handshake line, he told Roach that he loved him.

“One, just with Jeremy, I told him I love him in the handshake line,” Jon Scheyer said. “I said this the other day, but he’s been — we’ll look back on his four years at Duke as such a key moment. I think, selfishly for me, I feel that way because of the transition. He was the only returning player to come back when I took over. It meant a lot to me.”

Jeremy Roach first came to Duke in 2020. At the time, he was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2020, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the 22nd-ranked player nationally in that class and came to Duke to play under Mike Krzyzewski. At the time, Jon Scheyer was an assistant coach at Duke. However, in 2022 when he replaced Coach K as the head coach at Duke, Roach chose to stay on instead of transferring out at this point.

“I’ve been through a lot with him. It was strange seeing him in green. I had to do a double take today even though I knew he wasn’t on our team,” Scheyer said. “But I told him I love him. That’s all I said to him.”

Last season, at Duke, Roach became a third-team All-ACC selection. That was his fourth season at Duke, and it saw him average 14.0 points, 3.3 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game. This year, he was able to play in 29 games for Baylor, starting in 18 of them. He’d go on to average 28.5 minutes per game, slightly down from his final season at Duke. With that, his number slipped a little in the 2024-25 season. He averaged 10.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game.

With the loss to Duke, Roach’s college career came to an end after five seasons. In his final game, he scored seven points, snagged three rebounds, and had an assist.

Duke, meanwhile, marches on in the NCAA Tournament. They’re ready to take on Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday. A win there would get Jon Scheyer to his second Elite Eight as a head coach.