🔥 “You Can’t Skip Steps”: What Jon Scheyer Learned from Coaching Cooper Flagg — And How It’s Shaping the Future of Duke Basketball

Jon Scheyer‘s third season at Duke would go down as the best so far in his young coaching career, as he and Naismith Player of the Year Cooper Flagg led the Blue Devils to the Final Four with a 35-4 record.

Flagg emerged as the best player in the sport as a freshman, averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. He was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks, joining future Basketball Hall of Famers Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis.

During a media opportunity this week, Scheyer discussed coaching Cooper Flagg and how proud he was of his team handling internal pressure last season.

“I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned is to not skip steps and not go backwards with how you can approach this thing,” Scheyer said. “Because so much now is thrown at anybody we’re recruiting right now. They’ve had opportunities for money. They’ve had opportunities for brand deals, promotions, you name it. And I thought that group did a tremendous job, and Cooper was the prime example of keeping the main thing the main thing. And knowing if you do it the right way, if you knock it out of the park at Duke, not only is the financial aspect gonna be there for your life but you’re gonna be in a better position.”

Scheyer applauds Flagg and last year’s team

“And I thought Cooper did an amazing job at just being present, being the best player he can be in the moment, and same thing with every one of the guys on last year’s team. And I think that’s hard to do. I think it’s easier said than done because there’s internal pressures (of course there’s external pressures) but I’m talking about the internal pressure of our guys trying to accomplish things. So just trying to take that pressure off of them and keeping them present is as big of a job that I have as anything.”

The Blue Devils went 33-2 over their final 35 games last season, with their lone losses coming at Clemson on February 8 and against Houston in the Final Four on April 5.

Although superstar freshmen Flagg, guard Kon Kneuppel and center Khaman Maluach (who were all selected in the top-ten of the 2025 NBA Draft) have departed from the program, Duke reloaded and brought in the nation’s No. 1 ranked high school recruiting class.

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