Before the handshake line, before the cutting of the nets, before the hats and T-shirts, Cooper Flagg found his way to Jon Scheyer at the bench. The final seconds ticked off as they embraced, the player and coach who first envisioned this journey together.<\/p>\n
Anything less than a Final Four would have been a failure. The bar was set here, at the very least. Flagg\u2019s one season of college basketball will end on the biggest stage in the sport. And Scheyer continues to escape the considerable shadow of his predecessor.<\/p>\n
The path up the ladder after Duke\u2019s 85-65 win over Alabama was set into motion years in advance, starting with the elevation of Scheyer to replace Mike Krzyzewski and continuing with the lessons he learned from falling short in the NCAA tournament his first two seasons.<\/p>\n
Duke\u2019s head coach Jon Scheyer hugs Cooper Flagg (2) as time expires in Duke\u2019s 85-65 victory over Alabama in their Elite 8 game in the 2025 NCAA Men\u2019s Basketball Championship at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Saturday, March 29, 2025.<\/p>\n
Duke\u2019s head coach Jon Scheyer hugs Cooper Flagg (2) as time expires in Duke\u2019s 85-65 victory over Alabama in their Elite 8 game in the 2025 NCAA Men\u2019s Basketball Championship at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Saturday, March 29, 2025.<\/p>\n
And then: The successful recruitment of a generational player in Flagg and the rest of the freshman class. The deliberate offseason roster turnover to put the right players around them, playing the transfer portal, incoming and outgoing, like a pipe organ.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach did an incredible job of being incredibly honest with everybody and laying out a really good vision for us, and what he saw happening this year,\u201d Flagg said. \u201cThat honesty and that vision he laid out is kind of how it\u2019s gone. That\u2019s the only way to build something special like we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
The succession from Krzyzewski to Scheyer has been an evolution, not a revolution. What happened in Newark on Saturday was carefully planned, considered and, eventually, executed, all with the intention of being in San Antonio in the first week of April.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s what you plan for, but it\u2019s hard to script it,\u201d Duke athletic director Nina King said. \u201cBut we\u2019re here. It\u2019s been an absolutely magical season. We knew that, from the start, that this was going to be incredible. But you never know until you play the games and keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even the sudden departure of Jai Lucas for Miami, the assistant coach who played such a vital role in all of it, couldn\u2019t slow Duke\u2019s procession to an ACC championship, to an 18th Final Four. Nor could Alabama, although the Crimson Tide gave it a shot until a late 13-0 Duke run put the game away.<\/p>\n
Unable to replicate Thursday\u2019s record-setting shooting performance, Alabama still pushed Duke throughout, never losing contact with the Blue Devils even as Duke never trailed. Nothing was easy. When Flagg went up to put Grant Nelson on a poster early in the second half, Nelson stonewalled him in midair, sending both crashing to the floor.<\/p>\n
Forty-eight hours after Flagg outdueled Caleb Love to beat Arizona, he looked worn out, not quite his usual explosive self. His shooting \u2014 an unusual-for-his-standards 6-for-16 \u2014 reflected that, but it was more a lack of the change of pace with the dribble that so often catches defenders off guard. Then again, it\u2019s a measure of his talent that even at less than his best he still flirted with a double double and finished with 16 points. Everything\u2019s relative.<\/p>\n
But just as when Flagg was in foul trouble against Louisville and North Carolina, or missing entirely during the ACC tournament, Duke was built to be more than just its star. The Blue Devils have so many ways to beat you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before the handshake line, before the cutting of the nets, before the hats and T-shirts, Cooper Flagg found his way to Jon Scheyer at the bench. The final seconds ticked off as they embraced, the player and coach who first envisioned this journey together. Anything less than a Final Four would have been a failure. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2774],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duke-blue-devils"],"yoast_head":"\n