The 2024-25 campaign for Duke Basketball started with high expectations. They had the top incoming recruiting class, led by No. 1 freshman phenom prospect Cooper Flagg. But yet, they found a way to overachieve even those expectations entering the postseason.
The Blue Devils are 28-3 and 19-1 in ACC play. They’re a consensus No. 1 seed already for the NCAA Tournament with plenty of big wins and a historically dominant league campaign, including several blowouts over other ACC teams.
A case could be made that Jon Scheyer could be the National Head Coach of the Year. And at a bare minimum, the ACC Coach of the Year. But the conference had other plans, giving Pat Kelsey of the Louisville Cardinals the award.
In the past two years, Louisville was one of the worst high-major teams, finishing last in the ACC. But the hiring of Kelsey has turned things around immediately, as the Cardinals are now ranked in the top 20 overall and finishing 25-6 and 18-2 in the regular season.
Yes, Duke did beat Louisville in their lone regular-season matchup, but for the Cardinals, who dealt with plenty of injuries, to finish just one game back of the historical Blue Devils, that’s as impressive an accomplishment as one can ask.
For Duke, they weren’t happy about the news of Scheyer’s apparent snub. In fact, the main account went on to post the accomplishments of him and the team the other day, a rare move to do on the main account.
Coach Scheyer has had an impressive start to his career, but with two early flameouts in the NCAA Tournament, including a loss to 11-seed NC State in the Elite 8 a year ago, there have been some questions as to whether he can take the program to the promised land in April.
He has a chance to prove many, including those who voted for the ACC Coach of the Year Award, wrong in the next few weeks.