Is John Scheyer the worst coach in college basketball?
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He can recruit but obviously can't coach. Reminds me of Steve Lavin.
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No
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Was just having this discussion with a friend this morning. They were probably overall too young. They played in a watered down ACC. But I don't think Scheyer is the best coach. He's still very inexperienced.
The Blue Devils produced three of the first 10 picks, including No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. Guards Sion James and Tyrese Proctor were taken in the second round on Thursday to make Duke the 19th program to have 5+ players drafted in a single year.
So there have been many other teams who also have done this, including 2006 UConn who had 4 first rounders, and didn't win the championship. None of us would say Calhoun wasn't a good coach.
www.cbssports.com
The Blue Devils produced three of the first 10 picks, including No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. Guards Sion James and Tyrese Proctor were taken in the second round on Thursday to make Duke the 19th program to have 5+ players drafted in a single year.
So there have been many other teams who also have done this, including 2006 UConn who had 4 first rounders, and didn't win the championship. None of us would say Calhoun wasn't a good coach.
Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel lead five Duke players picked in 2025 NBA Draft; SEC has 13 stars selected
Flagg, Knueppel and Khaman Maluach are the third college teammates to go in the top 10 of the same draft
www.cbssports.com
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Remains to be seen how good everyone outside of Flagg really is. NBA dorks have been overdrafting Duke players for as long as I've been alive.
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Case in point. The only player on the 2006 team really worthy of a high NBA draft pick was Rudy Gay. Armstrong, Boone, and Marcus Williams were NBA busts. Same for many overdrafted Duke players in the pastWas just having this discussion with a friend this morning. They were probably overall too young. They played in a watered down ACC. But I don't think Scheyer is the best coach. He's still very inexperienced.
The Blue Devils produced three of the first 10 picks, including No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. Guards Sion James and Tyrese Proctor were taken in the second round on Thursday to make Duke the 19th program to have 5+ players drafted in a single year.
So there have been many other teams who also have done this, including 2006 UConn who had 4 first rounders, and didn't win the championship. None of us would say Calhoun wasn't a good coach.
Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel lead five Duke players picked in 2025 NBA Draft; SEC has 13 stars selected
Flagg, Knueppel and Khaman Maluach are the third college teammates to go in the top 10 of the same draft
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You beat me to it. It seems weird to start this thread and ignore a team that had to come back from a 12 point deficit to beat Albany in the first round.
nelsonmuntz
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Meh. I think this says more about some sketchy talent evaluations by NBA scouts than Scheyer. After Flagg, I don't think some of these Duke guys are NBA good. Maybe role players, but not worth lottery picks. We will find out.
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We already know that Calhoun is a Hall of Fame coach. He did have some under achieving teams. But Calhoun has the track record to infer that it was the team not the coach.
Scheyer has had incredible talent every year at Duke. Incredible talent. Every year. This year he had the best talent in the country. The only things he has proven so far is that he is an incredible recruiter and underachiever with those recruits.
Scheyer has had incredible talent every year at Duke. Incredible talent. Every year. This year he had the best talent in the country. The only things he has proven so far is that he is an incredible recruiter and underachiever with those recruits.
Waquoit
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That coach had already won 2 titles.
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I think he has 1 final four.
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John Calipari in. J Press suit.
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One thing I know for sure, if Flagg picked UConn we would have cruised to a threepeat, no doubt about it.
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He can recruit, that’s 70% of the battle. His strategizing and in game has room for improvement. Too often in big spots this past year he was over reliant on just handing the ball to Flagg and saying go. It’s safe to say great coaches could have done more with that talent.
Next year will be a good test as he doesn’t have overwhelming talent, but very good.
Next year will be a good test as he doesn’t have overwhelming talent, but very good.
His starting lineup, particular Flagg, was gassed in the last 5 minutes vs Houston. That’s why they coughed up a big lead and lost. He failed to develop enough of a viable bench to play a few more minutes, which made the difference in my opinion. Ngongba spurned UConn and others to play about 5-7 minutes in the Final Four. A better coach would have better developed his bench over the course of the season, especially in an underwhelming ACC conference schedule.
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No hes not the worst coach but hes not among the best. Hes a super recruiter and a good coach. Thats it. If he had to build his program instead of having a program full of 5* dropped on his lap no one would be talking about him.
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He's not the worst coach, but he certainly isn't near the best. He's been the recipient of some great recruiting classes and as long as guys are drafted and Duke being Duke, it probably won't stop soon, but if I wear a top recruit, I'd think twice. I don't see a lot of development as the players go and he has no championships yet. However, money talks and so I don't think things are really going to change for their program any time soon.
Flagg would have gone #1 no matter what school he played for. In the end, he may still help Duke more then the other way around because Scheyer is going to sell Flagg going #1 overall, even though they really had nothing to do with it.
Flagg would have gone #1 no matter what school he played for. In the end, he may still help Duke more then the other way around because Scheyer is going to sell Flagg going #1 overall, even though they really had nothing to do with it.
You’re right. I was giving him credit for the 22 FF, but K was still in charge.
This was his third year not his fourth. Still, a second round exit, elite eight and then a final four ain’t a bad start.
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willie99
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On the final play of their season Pass the ball to Coop 15 to 20 feet out. Let him try to back is way to the hoop and settle for a contested fade away long jump shot
Just the way he drew it up, it was the very shot he wanted
LOL
Enough said
Just the way he drew it up, it was the very shot he wanted
LOL
Enough said
He is a Cal level recruiter and seems to construct teams that fit well also (whether that has to do with Duke, or not is irrelevant as he is the Duke head coach). So on this aspect he is in the top 2-3 in the country.
He coached defense pretty well to cover for rather poor defenders (ie Knueppel). I'd put him high up here, but not as high as Samson obviously, but top tier last year. Now, it will be interesting to see how well he does without two elite college rim protectors to funnel to on defense.
On offense, he is not just a roll the ball out coach. He's no genius and a bit drive/pick and roll heavy but he's also not just running a "dribble drive" offense. Solidly middle of the pack at the worst.
The main problem I've seen is his players that have stayed multiple years haven't really gotten better. To be fair a lot of the guys fall into three categories, 1-and-dones, 1 year mercenaries, or multi-year players. The first two eat up a ton of the PT. The main example here is Proctor who just never got better under Scheyer. Foster is the next example on the list. Evans/Ngongba/Harris will be interesting to watch this coming year.
He coached defense pretty well to cover for rather poor defenders (ie Knueppel). I'd put him high up here, but not as high as Samson obviously, but top tier last year. Now, it will be interesting to see how well he does without two elite college rim protectors to funnel to on defense.
On offense, he is not just a roll the ball out coach. He's no genius and a bit drive/pick and roll heavy but he's also not just running a "dribble drive" offense. Solidly middle of the pack at the worst.
The main problem I've seen is his players that have stayed multiple years haven't really gotten better. To be fair a lot of the guys fall into three categories, 1-and-dones, 1 year mercenaries, or multi-year players. The first two eat up a ton of the PT. The main example here is Proctor who just never got better under Scheyer. Foster is the next example on the list. Evans/Ngongba/Harris will be interesting to watch this coming year.
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It’s just way too early to say. Yes, he’s getting top talent, but it’ll take 10 years to really answer this question.
Calhoun was a seasoned coach and we didn’t make a FF with Donyell and Ray on the same team. Different era, and we played older teams back then, but still - we had a lot of talent before ever cutting down the nets.
On the flip side, when Calhoun was much older, we saw the Kemba run. And, I can’t possibly see Scheyer cutting down the nets with that team. Now, that team had an on paper number 23 recruiting class if memory serves), but during the first week of practice Calhoun said (paraphrase) “you don’t really know what you have until you have them in the gym, and the first week, i said these guys are really good.”
Long story short, some of the lack of Duke’s player development issues is on Scheyer. Some of it is missed evaluations - and these are overvaluations that many more than just Scheyer made. I’m not going to fault him for some of those any more than I’ll fault Danny for bringing over the St Mary’s kid. I still trust Danny and crew to make an evaluation.
I’m curious to see how Duke’s defense fairs arfter losing Lucas.
He’s a good coach, not great yet, but he fits the program and will have more time to grow. We shall see.
Calhoun was a seasoned coach and we didn’t make a FF with Donyell and Ray on the same team. Different era, and we played older teams back then, but still - we had a lot of talent before ever cutting down the nets.
On the flip side, when Calhoun was much older, we saw the Kemba run. And, I can’t possibly see Scheyer cutting down the nets with that team. Now, that team had an on paper number 23 recruiting class if memory serves), but during the first week of practice Calhoun said (paraphrase) “you don’t really know what you have until you have them in the gym, and the first week, i said these guys are really good.”
Long story short, some of the lack of Duke’s player development issues is on Scheyer. Some of it is missed evaluations - and these are overvaluations that many more than just Scheyer made. I’m not going to fault him for some of those any more than I’ll fault Danny for bringing over the St Mary’s kid. I still trust Danny and crew to make an evaluation.
I’m curious to see how Duke’s defense fairs arfter losing Lucas.
He’s a good coach, not great yet, but he fits the program and will have more time to grow. We shall see.
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Steve Pikiell had 2 in the top 5 and didn't make the tournament
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I don't know if he can coach or if he can even recruit. Let's face it, duke can recruit. He has been as successful as he has been in his first few years because of coach k and the duke name. It remains to be seen how good he actually is and whether he is helping or harming duke.
Flagg was going to duke no matter who was coaching.
Flagg was going to duke no matter who was coaching.
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I hate to say it because he's a UConn giy but Pikiell really is not a good head coach. He'd be much better as a top AHC with a defensive niche
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