Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer watches down court Thursday, March 19, 2026, during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament first round game against the Siena Saints at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. Alex Martin/Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Grading Jon Scheyer's First Four Seasons at Duke

Originally posted on Duke Blue Devils on SI
By Hugh Straine | Last updated Apr 3, 2026 6:00 AM ET

For the second consecutive season, the Duke Blue Devils saw their season end in absolute heartbreak, this time around in the Elite Eight to the UConn Huskies. Duke has now suffered two of the biggest collapses in NCAA Tournament history, two years in a row.

Unfortunately, after the catastrophic fold against UConn last Sunday, the "collapse" tag will now follow Scheyer throughout the rest of his head coaching career until he wins a National Championship. In 2025, the Blue Devils blew a 66-59 lead in the final minute and a half against Houston in the Final Four.

In 2026, Duke let go of a lead once as large as 19 points to lose 73-72.

Before Duke's loss to Houston in 2025, NCAA Tournament teams that had a higher field goal percentage, more steals, more assists, more free throw attempts, and fewer turnovers than their opponent were 335-0. Before the Blue Devils folded against UConn, 1-seeds in the NCAA Tournament that held leads of 15 points or more at halftime were 134-0.

Scheyer's club was up 44-29 on the Huskies heading into the halftime break.

Despite Scheyer's collapse record that continues to grow, it's impossible to ignore how elite a coach he has been with the Blue Devils. Let's grade his first four seasons at the helm.

Grade: A

There realistically isn't much more Duke fans could want from Scheyer, especially given he inherited arguably the most difficult success job in the history of college basketball, taking over for Mike Krzyzewski.

Now through four seasons, Scheyer has compiled a 124-25 overall record, which includes three ACC Tournament Championships, four trips to the NCAA Tournament, three trips to the Elite Eight, and one trip to the Final Four. He also became the fastest coach in ACC history to eclipse 100 career wins.

Duke has now earned a 1-seed in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.

What Scheyer has done is keep Duke in a position to win a national title each season. Has Duke fallen short, given the plethora of talent it boasts? Arguably. But at just 38 years old, Scheyer wasted no time keeping the Blue Devils as one of the most dominant programs in the sport.

Scheyer's Success Job Wasn't Easy

Sure, Scheyer has all the tools in the world at his disposal to keep Duke afloat, but he wasn't just inheriting any good college basketball program. He was inheriting arguably the most storied program in the sport's history.

The only thing that can boost Scheyer's resume more at this point is a national title, which will come in time. Besides that, he's established himself as one of the three to five best head coaches in the sport through just four years.

This article first appeared on Duke Blue Devils on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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