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David Hale, ESPN staff writer
DURHAM, NC — From the moment Duke fell to NC State in last season’s men’s Elite Eight, Blue Devils head coach John Scheer has been single-mindedly focused on building a team capable of winning it all. That means making some significant dips into the transfer portal and finalizing a recruiting class with as many stars as Duke has in history — including 17-year-old phenom Cooper Flagg.
The result, as the Blue Devils approach the start of the 2024-25 season, is a level of hype rarely seen outside of Tobacco Road — and lofty even by Duke’s standards.
“It’s not external noise, but I’m just excited because I think we have a team that can do something special,” Scheier said.
With Duke tipping off the new season on Nov. 4, ESPN shares talked about those huge expectations, the hype surrounding the flag and the future of college basketball on and off the court.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
ESPN: It sounds like you’ve taken a very specific approach to building this season’s roster, starting with the veterans you’ll be able to play with through Portal. How did you put this lineup together?
Share: What we’ve done since March 31, since losing that Elite Eight game, has been incredibly deliberate. Before you figure out what you’re going to do, you need to figure out who you’re doing it with. Our entire staff has been together for a year now. Our team is not only getting the best talent but also analytically looking at what is going to fit, with a culture perspective. And then it was important to mix talent in different roles, have the best fit, and be really intentional about how we put it together.
ESPN: Especially after the first-round loss at Kentucky, there were so many handoffs that you can’t win with one-and-done players anymore. At the same time, retaining talent in the age of transfer portals seems impossible. Have you been rethinking the proper way to create a roster? Is there a right way?
Share: I think about it all the time. It’s silly to say there’s a certain way you can or can’t do it. Winning a national championship or going to the Final Four is one of the most difficult tasks in any sport. In the last 15 years, two teams with really young players have won. We had one and Kentucky had one. We’ve been to the Final Four, the Elite Eight three times. The margin is not Cooper Flag or Khaman Maluach. Strategy with COVID-19 years and everything is probably different than it will be in a year or two. It’s important to evolve though an identity of recruiting top talent from high school and then mixing in a few key people from Portal.
ESPN: You lived through Zion Williamson’s experience at Duke — he seemed to really enjoy being a student-athlete. Cooper Flag brings the same kind of hype. How could he experience the same?
Share: It is unique and it is one of my most important things. He doesn’t get back this year, and I want him to enjoy the process of it. I told him, ‘I expect you to look bad at times.’ Hopefully, in practice. Hopefully, this won’t happen in a game, but it probably will. It is inevitable. But embrace those moments because it’s about your growth. If everything is crushed, there will be no people. I have been over her about that. But he has done an amazing job of being himself and just enjoying being a college student and not getting sidetracked with NIL opportunities and spending his time and energy on the team. It’s the big thing for me, he wants to enjoy it.
ESPN: Zion and Cooper both draw interest in a broader culture beyond college basketball fans. I think President Obama was in the building and Zion was blowing his shoes, and the chaos that followed. Did you learn anything from going through that that could help Cooper?
Share: I think I have. You have to be ready for anything. But I think how hot and cold it can be. In today’s climate, you can go to a game feeling hot, but feel very cold afterward. How to stay level headed and focus on growth and what you can control — I know this year is going to be messy. Some of it will be overly positive when it shouldn’t be, and some of it will be overly critical. For Cooper as a 17-year-old playing at Duke, the more we think about how we can control him and enjoy the process — if we do that, he’s going to have a special year.
ESPN: We’re moving closer to a world where schools can share revenue with athletes, but the primary driver nationally is football. Duke is the king of basketball though. Did you and athletic director Nina King discuss how much pie should go into men’s hoops?
Share: It’s been hot and cold with how it’s really been going. We saw it. Our program, the exposure we get, is the equivalent of a high major football program. Of course, it’s all about TV dollars and exposure, but we need to talk about how we’re watching and our exposure, we think. Nina is well aware of this, and of course the investment in our football program is great, but at the end of the day, we have something one-on-one with our basketball program.
ESPN: Do you care about keeping college basketball relevant?
Share: College basketball has an amazing product in March Madness, but we have to find a way to get people to watch it move forward. The first thing is to have a great product, and we have to continue to modernize our rules: to play quarters, to be able to advance the ball, to play like the rest of the world (in professional basketball). 24-second shot clock. The game is there, and we have to catch it. Different rules of our sport. Four hours of elimination. You have high-level talent in college basketball and we only have four hours to work with them every day. That’s where the game needs to be raised, it raises the product and that’s what drives engagement. People love basketball, and we have great players — but we have to make sure college is the place for them before they go to the NBA.
ESPN: The expectations surrounding this year’s team are immense. How will you handle it at the start of the 2024-25 season?
Share: I feel the weight every day. My expectations, I promise, are higher than anyone else’s. Year 2 was an Elite Eight, and won 27 in both years. I am proud of that. My topic is how can I grow and be better this year? You can get caught up in results very easily as a coach at Duke, and I think when you get caught up in results you’re not reaching your potential or maximum. My focus is on being the best every day for my team. Last year, we fell victim to feeling that pressure, where we weren’t at our best when it mattered most. I think if you embrace every game and moment and practice, amazing things happen. I saw that play out. That is my goal for this group.
