Duke has spent the past couple of seasons hovering right there, close enough to taste a national title and still walking away empty-handed. That’s the reality Jon Scheyer is dealing with as he heads into a new season, and he’s not interested in turning last year’s loss to UConn into a convenient explanation.
Scheyer knows what his program has been. Duke has been winning at a high level, and in plenty of eyes, it has looked like the best team in the country at times. But the Blue Devils still haven’t finished the job when it mattered most, and that’s the part hanging over this next run.
There’s no mystery about what comes with that. Scheyer has already established himself as the coach to keep pushing Duke forward, and the one thing left is the title that would push him over the top. Until that happens, the pressure will keep building.
For now, though, he’s focused on the team in front of him and what it can become. He said last season’s group was “really good and is going to be tough to replicate,” but he also made clear that the point is not to live in the shadow of one game.
“You can make an excuse and say it’s one play, or you can say what I would call an opportunity battle,” Scheyer said, per The Athletic.
“You have to be careful of just analyzing one game. For me, I look at it from a full scope and full perspective, and there’s some really good things we did, last year’s team, that’s hard to replicate. … It’s about building the base as much as it is a couple of takeaways in that game.”
That’s the message from Scheyer: no excuses, no replaying one moment forever. Duke cannot undo what happened, but it can keep building toward the level it believes it can reach. And with this roster, the Blue Devils enter the season with serious expectations - and even more pressure to finally finish the story.
In Other News...
Cameron Boozer Is Already Earning The Kind Of NBA Praise Duke Expected
Cameron Boozers one-and-done season at Duke already gave the Blue Devils plenty to point to when it came to his profile as a future pro, and that conversation only got louder after the 2026 NBA Draft. Selected No. 3 overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, Boozer arrived in the league with the kind of reputation Duke fans are used to seeing attached to elite recruits who do not need long to prove they belong.
Former Virginia guard Ty Jerome added to that buzz during media day, offering a public nod to Boozers maturity and the broader package that made him such a coveted prospect. For Duke, it is another reminder that Boozers value was never just about the ranking or the hype, but about how quickly he earned trust as a leader and how smoothly he translated that into the next level. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Freshman Already Drawing Buzz As A Real Piece This Season
Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje arrives at Duke with a different kind of resume than most freshmen. The 17-year-old spent his early career at FC Barcelona before making the jump to Durham, and his background has already given the Blue Devils another young frontcourt piece worth watching as the season gets underway.
There is still an adjustment period ahead as he settles into college basketball, but the early buzz around Boumtje Boumtje is real enough to have his teammates talking. Sophomore Dame Sarr, another former FC Barcelona player, has been among those expressing confidence in what Boumtje Boumtje can become, and Duke will be counting on that transition to keep moving in the right direction as his role grows. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Women Are Building National Buzz For More Than One Reason
Duke womens soccer is getting national attention in a way that goes beyond the usual weekly rankings chatter. Four Blue Devils - Katie Shea Collins, Sam Courtwright, Mia Minestrella and Cameron Roller - landed on the 2026 Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List, a marker reserved for the top Division I performers from the first half of the season and put together by the Division I Womens All-America Committee. The Hermann Trophy, of course, goes to the National Player of the Year, so being in the mix at this stage is a meaningful sign of how well the Blue Devils have started.
The list also hints at just how balanced Dukes profile has become, with impact coming from different parts of the roster. Collins and Courtwright arrived via the transfer route, Minestrella has supplied the scoring punch up top, and Roller has given the team a defensive anchor, which helps explain why the Blue Devils keep showing up in national conversation. Semifinalists and finalists will come later in the season, but for now Duke has already separated itself in a big way. [Read more 🡒]