After multiple reports that legendary Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski will retire after this upcoming season, it was also reported that associate head coach Jon Scheyer is expected to replace him.
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde tweeted: Source confirms: “It’s going to be Scheyer” as the next coach at Duke after Mike Krzyzewski’s farewell tour through 2021-22.”
Scheyer is a former Duke player and one of the lead recruiters at Duke who brought stars like Jayson Tatum and Zion Williamson to Durham, N.C.
The 33-year-old Scheyer played point and shooting guard for the Blue Devils from 2006 to 2010. During Duke’s 2010 national championship run, he was named first-team All ACC and was a consensus second-team All American.
Despite his success, he wasn’t selected in the 2010 NBA draft. However, he played for the Miami Heat’s summer league team in Las Vegas that year but suffered a serious eye injury that sidelined him for some time. He later received an invitation to Clippers training camp but was ultimately waived.
Scheyer had stints with the Rockets D-League team, the Euroleague, the Spanish League and the 76ers summer league team before finally joining Duke in 2013 as a special assistant. He became a full-time assistant in 2014 and was promoted to associate head coach in 2018.
Scheyer helped mentor Tyus Jones, a future NBA first-round pick, and assisted in the development of standout guards like Luke Kennard and Frank Jackson who were both selected in the 2017 NBA draft.
He also was crucial in the development of future NBA guards RJ Barrett and Tre Jones.
In August 2020, Scheyer was announced as the head coach for the U.S. men’s basketball team that will compete in the 21st Maccabiah, the Jewish Olympics, which will be in Israel in 2022. Scheyer, who is Jewish, formerly played for Maccabi Tel Aviv while in the Euroleague. Although born and raised in the U.S. and originally from Northbrook, Ill., he is also an Israeli citizen.
While Harvard coach Tommy Amaker and UCF coach Johnny Dawkins were reportedly abeing considered for the Duke head coaching position, Scheyer is the favorite to take over for the Blue Devils.
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