Duke Basketball: How high are expectations for Scheyer in year one?

How high are expectations for Jon Scheyer in his first season as head coach of Duke Basketball?

Duke Basketball enters the 2022-23 season in unfamiliar territory, without Mike Krzyzewski, and instead, with Jon Scheyer at the helm who becomes the first full-time head coach to enter a season, not named Mike Krzyzewski, since the 1979-80 season.

Scheyer has a lot to live up to, not just because he’s taking over a program built by the coach many consider to be the greatest of all time, but also because of what the Blue Devils accomplished in 2021-22, and also what their rivals from eight miles down the road did in 2021-22, with a first-year head coach at the helm.

Last season the Blue Devils made the Final Four for the first time since 2015, and although they came up short losing to North Carolina, it was undoubtedly still a successful season for Duke. Now, Scheyer takes over what will practically be a brand new team as the Blue Devils lose six players to the NBA Draft.

However, despite taking over a team that loses nearly all of its talent from the year prior, Scheyer will have a new stable of talented recruits to help make up for it. Scheyer’s first recruiting class comes in ranked number one in the nation with the top-ranked, the second-ranked, the fourth-ranked, the 21st ranked, and the 63rd ranked players nationally, will all be calling Durham home for at least the 2022-23 season.

That being said, the Duke Blue Devils won’t be short in the talent department for Scheyer’s first season, but what does that mean for the expectations that will be placed upon Scheyer?

The expectations for Jon Scheyer in his first season are incredibly high for a plethora of reasons. First off; he takes over a program left behind by the greatest coach the sport has ever seen, and because of it, the expectations that were around for Coach K, will remain for Coach Scheyer.

Second off; Duke made the Final Four last season, for that reason, Duke, and their fans, will expect to be right back in that position come the end of March, and beginning of April. If Duke fails to make a run to the Elite Eight at the least, Duke fans will be disappointed.

Third off; just last season, with Hubert Davis as head coach in his first season, North Carolina was able to make the Final Four. The Tar Heels made the Final Four with a team far less talented than the one Duke will run out onto the court in 2022-23. That being said, if Duke’s biggest rival can make the Final Four with a new head coach, why can’t Duke?

It is because of these three reasons, among several others, that Jon Scheyer will enter his first season as the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils, with massive expectations.