ESPN Talks To Jon Scheyer About The Upcoming Season

Some of this you’ll expect but some of it you won’t.

ESPN’s David Hale has an interview up with Duke head coach Jon Scheyer and it touches on some interesting points.

Hale asks him about this year’s roster building, if things have changed with one-and-done teams, the hype around Flagg (and Zion Williamson), the changing nature of the game and keeping the sport relevant. He had some interesting responses, like this one about the experience he’d like Flagg to have at Duke (Hale compared it to Williamson’s):

“It is unique and it’s one of my most important things. He doesn’t get this year back, and I want him to enjoy the process of it. I’ve told him, ‘I hope there’s times you look bad.’ Hopefully, in practice. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen in a game, but it probably will. That’s inevitable. But embrace those moments because it’s about your growth. If you crushed everything, you wouldn’t be human. I’ve been on him about that. But he’s done an amazing job of being himself and just enjoying being a college student and not getting sidetracked with NIL opportunities, and putting his time and energy into the team. That’s the big thing for me, is wanting him to enjoy it.“

It’s going to be a different sort of a year for Scheyer. He’s had to deal with expectations that come with following Mike Krzyzewski, who had an incredible career. Establishing your own identity when following an immense legend was never going to be easy. Plus he has a ton of talent and lots of hype and excitement.

But that’s a lot better than having low or no expectations.