March has arrived, and Duke basketball sits atop the analytics rankings, positioning the Blue Devils to enter the postseason as the No. 1 team in the AP poll.
Isn’t this exactly what Mike Krzyzewski envisioned back in 2021 when he set up a succession plan for Jon Scheyer, allowing him to work alongside him for a year before taking over in 2022?
Yes. Precisely.
Now in his third season as Duke’s head coach, Scheyer has led the Blue Devils to an impressive 27-3 record, including an 18-1 mark in ACC play. Ken Pomeroy’s analytics rank Duke as the top team in the country, while the NCAA’s NET rankings also place them at No. 1. If the second-ranked Blue Devils defeat their rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Saturday night, they are likely to claim the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25, especially after Auburn, the current No. 1 team, lost 83-72 to Texas A&M on Tuesday.
Has Scheyer done the best coaching job in the ACC this season? Should he be considered for national coach of the year honors?
Last spring, Scheyer reworked Duke’s roster after back-to-back 27-9 seasons, the latter ending in a crushing loss to NC State in the South Regional final, one win short of the Final Four. While Duke brought in the nation’s top recruiting class—headlined by Cooper Flagg and featuring two other projected first-round NBA Draft picks, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach—talent alone doesn’t guarantee success. Just ask Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell, whose team, despite featuring top NBA prospects Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, is sitting at 14-16.
Scheyer wanted more than just raw talent—he sought experience and size. Through the transfer portal, he added three key players: 6-foot-9 junior Maliq Brown, 6-foot-6 graduate student Sion James, and 6-foot-6 graduate student Mason Gillis.
“Jon did a really good job of roster construction,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said Monday after Duke dominated his team, 93-60. “You can’t just sign a bunch of players that don’t fit.”
These three transfers brought not only skill but also the right mentality. Brown was eager to join without even questioning his role, while Gillis, the Big Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year at Purdue last season, has appeared in 28 games, missing only two due to illness. His leadership has helped unify the team.
“Just being selfless and coming in every single day to help the next person get better—that’s how you go through a season,” Gillis said. “You have to take it one day at a time and do your job. And you’ve all seen what that looks like right now.”
James emerged as a key locker room leader and worked his way into the starting lineup, averaging 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while shooting an efficient 52.8% from the field and 42.3% from three-point range.
“Sion James is the perfect example of a player who understands roster construction,” Forbes added. “He doesn’t need the ball to be effective. He runs the team, plays like an NFL linebacker, makes open shots, and thrives in his role. That’s a credit to Jon—not just for signing great players, but for building a complete roster that fits together.”
Of course, Scheyer isn’t the only ACC coach with a compelling case for coach of the year. Louisville’s Pat Kelsey, who inherited a struggling program after Kenny Payne’s departure, has turned the Cardinals around, leading them to a 24-6 overall record and a 17-2 mark in ACC play after they finished 8-24 (3-17 ACC) last season.
That’s an incredible coaching job.
But Scheyer’s work deserves recognition as well, with Duke poised to finish the regular season as one of the nation’s elite teams.