Jon Scheyer gets 100% real about Duke’s Final Four loss to Houston: “I felt that game as deeply as any game in my life”

Jon Scheyer is a Blue Devil through and through. From assisting the legendary Mike Krzyzweski to leading Duke, Scheyer has come a long way. He shows passion, dedication and love towards his team. It was only natural when Jon was distraught after Duke's loss versus Houston last season.

Scheyer revisited the disappointing loss from the 2024-25 season in conversation with college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein.

"I felt that game as deeply as I've felt any game in my life," Scheyer said.

"You feel, actually, in a lot of respects, way more responsibility when you're the head coach, even though you don't have the ball in your hands down the stretch or throughout the course of the game. You feel like you're responsible for every decision that's being made in the game more," he added.

Scheyer mentioned how most of the top coaches would share his opinion of taking on responsibility and finding themselves accountable for their team's failure.

"You understand that there are things that happen on the court that necessarily you do not have a direct impact all the time. But as a competitor, as a teacher, you wanna control as much as that, help your players as much as possible," he concluded.

Duke's underwhelming season in Cooper Flagg's freshman year

Jon Scheyer took over from Coach K in 2022. It would be fair to say that ceiling-wise, Cooper Flagg was the most talented player in his three-year tenure. Unfortunately, his only season did not end with Duke becoming champions.

NCAA Basketball: Final Four National Semifinal-Houston at Duke - Source: Imagn

Duke reached the Final Four for the 18th time in their history. Jon Scheyer's team faced a motivated Houston squad led by Kelvin Sampson. Scheyer has over 80% win percentage since he took over as Duke's coach. With some amazing players under him, Cooper Flagg grew tremendously, too. He found his rhythm and imposed himself in the college basketball world.

However, even his 27-point display wasn't good enough to take Duke over the line vs Houston. Sampson's boys pulled a narrow but impressive upset as the game ended 67-70 in Cougars' favor.

Scheyer has once again assembled a talented squad with Cameron and Cayden Boozer leading the lineup. Can Scheyer guide Duke to a better finish than last year?