2024 North Carolina Sports Network
Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball Spotlight:
Duke University

By Ben McCormick
North Carolina Sports Network

School: Duke University

Location: Durham, N.C.

Previous Conference Affiliations: Southern Conference (1928-53)

ACC Member Since: 1953-54

ACC Ranking Among 32 Leagues (KenPom): 7th (2023), 5th (2022), 5th (2021), 4th (2020)

NCAA Tournament Bids: 45 (1955, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)

NCAA Championships: 5 (1991, 1992, 2002, 2010, 2015)

Final Fours: 17 (1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010, 2015, 2022)

Conference Titles: 27 (1938, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1946 in SoCon; 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2017, 2019, 2023 in ACC)

Conference 1st-Place Finishes: 23 (1940, 1942, 1943 in SoCon; 1954, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1979, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2022 in ACC)

Head Coach: Jon Scheyer (36, 2nd season)

As A Player: Duke (2006-10), 3 years professionally

Record As Head Coach (through Feb. 11): 45-14 (.763) in 1+ seasons

Previous HC Experience: none

AC Experience: Duke (2014-22)

Assistant Under: Mike Krzyzewski

2022-23 Record: 27-9, 14-6 (3rd in 15-team ACC)

2023-24 Preseason Prediction (Coaches): 1st in 15-team ACC

2023-24 Record (Through Feb. 11): 18-5, 9-3 ACC

2023-24 Midseason Ranking (AP Poll/KenPom): #9/#13 nationally (2nd/2nd in ACC)

Upcoming Schedule Highlights: Wake Forest (2/12), at Florida State (2/17), at Miami (2/21), at Wake Forest (2/24), Virginia (3/2), at NC State (3/4), UNC (3/9)

In his second season as a head coach, Jon Scheyer is shouldering championship expectations. That’s not normal — unless you are leading a blue-blood program such as Duke.

In Durham, lofty expectations are just part of the job. Duke’s wobbly 5-3 start to the 2023-24 season fell well short of expectations, but the Blue Devils’ Dec. 20 victory over Baylor (now ranked #13 nationally) and 9-3 mark thus far in Atlantic Coast Conference play have them back in the national top 10.

Scheyer produced some big-time results in year one. He captured the ACC Tournament crown, as his Blue Devils entered the NCAA Tournament on a nine-game winning streak, but it wasn’t always pretty for last season’s Devils. Despite their preseason #7 ranking, they spent the majority of the season unranked.

While this year’s squad has never dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25, it has experienced a similar learning curve. In fact, for the first time in 40 years, Duke has suffered three losses before Christmas in back-to-back years.

That happened in each of Mike Krzyzewski’s first three years at the helm in Durham — and then never again for the final 39 years of his tenure. Slow starts can be expected for young coaches.

Still, the 2023-24 squad stands out in many positive ways. It was tabbed as the #2 team in the country in the preseason, mostly thanks to its atypical construction for modern Duke teams, which often are typified by high roster turnover and one-and-done players.

Duke returned eight scholarship players from last year’s team, its highest number of returnees since the 2008-09 season.

Among the returnees were Duke’s top four scorers from 2022-23: Kyle Filipowski, Jeremy Roach, Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor. It’s the first time Duke has returned its top four scorers since Krzyzewski’s first Final Four team, in 1985-86. Filipowski is the first freshman to lead the team in scoring and return for a sophomore season since Johnny Dawkins in 1983-84.

It is a notable return, especially for Duke, but that doesn’t mean winning comes easily.

“This year, collectively, with the guys returning — Jeremy, Flip, Mark and Tyrese starting and coming back — there’s great experience,” Scheyer said. “There’s still three sophomores; it’s not like we have the most games ever played or, you know, four upperclassmen, but it’s not easier. There’s a comfort there which is really good, but comfort can make you soft, and so for us we’ve doubled down on the work we put in every single day.”

More than halfway through conference play, the Blue Devils are still very much a work in progress. They suffered a home loss to Arizona (now #8 nationally) on Nov. 10 and lost back-to-back games on the road to Arkansas and Georgia Tech in late November and early December, respectively.

Duke struggled to find an identity offensively in the halfcourt early in the year, making for some sloppy and stagnant play at times, but the Blue Devils may be coming into their own at exactly the right time.

With four weeks remaining in the regular season, the Devils have won 13 of their last 15 games, and they’ve become the ACC’s most efficient team offensively.

Filipowski is an ACC Player of the Year candidate, Roach is another lock for the 15-man postseason All-ACC team, and rookie guard Jared McCain has emerged from a star-studded freshman class as one of the leading candidates for the ACC Freshman of the Year honor.

2023-24 Duke Blue Devils
(18-5, 9-3 ACC; through Feb. 11)

Starters

PG Tyrese Proctor*, So. — 29 mpg, 11 ppg, 3 rpg, 45% FG, 76% FT, 37% threes, 72/27 ATO, 3 blocks, 14 steals
(6-5/183); 2023 ACC All-Freshman honoree; NBA Global Academy; Sydney, Australia

G Jeremy Roach*, Sr. — 32 mpg, 14 ppg, 2 rpg, 48% FG, 87% FT, 44% threes, 67/21 ATO, 3 blocks, 27 steals
(6-2/180); 4-year starter; McDonald’s All-American; St. Paul VI HS; Leesburg, Va.

G Jared McCain, Fr. — 30 mpg, 13 ppg, 5 rpg, 45% FG, 83% FT, 38% threes, 41/21 ATO, 0 blocks, 24 steals
(6-3/197); McDonald’s All-American; Centennial HS; Sacramento, Calif.

F Mark Mitchell*, So. — 29 mpg, 13 ppg, 6 rpg, 54% FG, 73% FT, 19% threes, 25/24 ATO, 11 blocks, 15 steals
(6-9/232); 9 ppg, 5 rpg in 2023; McDonald’s All-American; Sunrise Christian HS; Kansas City, Kan.

C Kyle Filipowski*, So. — 30 mpg, 17 ppg, 8 rpg, 50% FG, 65% FT, 36% threes, 64/47 ATO, 40 blocks, 26 steals
(7-0/248); 2023 ACC FOY; Wilbraham & Monson (Mass.) Academy; Westtown, N.Y.

Key Reserves

G Caleb Foster, Fr. — 25 mpg, 8 ppg, 2 rpg, 44% FG, 66% FT, 40% threes, 50/25 ATO, 2 blocks, 15 steals
(6-5/197); 2023 MaxPreps Calif. POY; also Oak Hill (Va.) Academy; Harrisburg, N.C.

G Jaylen Blakes, Jr. — 11 mpg, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, 46% FG, 90% FT, 33% threes, 11/6 ATO, 5 blocks, 14 steals
(6-2/204); 2023 backup; 2022 reserve; Blair (N.J.) Academy; Somerset, N.J.

F Sean Stewart, Fr. — 8 mpg, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 53% FG, 47% FT, 2/6 ATO, 9 blocks, 11 steals
(6-9/227); McDonald’s All-American; Montverde (Fla.) Academy; Windermere, Fla.

C Ryan Young, Gr. — 12 mpg, 3 ppg, 4 rpg, 62% FG, 71% FT, 23/24 ATO, 14 blocks, 3 steals
(6-10/238); 2022 Northwestern transfer (backup); Bethlehem (Pa.) Catholic; Stewartsville, N.J.

*—returning starter (started at least 50% of current team’s games last season)