Jon Scheyer didn’t let a blowout soften his edge Thursday night, and that was the point.
With Duke rolling past Coastal Carolina, the Blue Devils’ head coach still treated every possession like it mattered. That approach showed up in a sharp teaching moment for 17-year-old freshman Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, who learned quickly that being up big doesn’t buy anyone a pass.
The sequence came with Duke ahead by more than 30. Boumtje Boumtje turned the ball over while going up for a dunk, then missed another dunk attempt on the next trip when the ball hit the back iron. Frustrated, he stayed on the rim a beat too long, which gave Coastal Carolina a 5-on-4 chance in transition and an easy basket.
Scheyer reacted immediately with a timeout, then delivered a message to his freshman big man before sending him to the bench.
That kind of correction is exactly what Duke signed up for, and exactly what Boumtje Boumtje came to Durham to receive.
Scheyer made that clear after the game when he was asked about the moment.
“It’s the reason he’s here, to continue to expand his limits," Scheyer said. "He’s doing really good things, but we’re coaching him hard.
That’s what he came here for; that’s what his family wanted. He wants to be great.
…He’s hard on himself. So I want him to continue to work through a game of not being perfect and getting to the next play.
He’s done that; he’s been really coachable.
"We want to continue to help him speed up the process of what an impactful player he can be. I’ll tell you what: he’s even further ahead of schedule than I thought of where he’d be.
What he’s doing at the youngest player ever for us, the impactful minutes he’s playing, has been terrific. But we want to continue to just speed up that process, and he wants the same thing.”
Boumtje Boumtje didn’t light up the box score, but he still found ways to help. He finished with 9 points on 2-of-5 shooting, plus 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal and three blocks in 19 minutes.
The shot-blocking has been one of the early surprises. Through the exhibition schedule and Duke’s first two regular-season games, his rim protection has gone beyond expectations. There was some belief that the physical nature of college basketball might give him trouble right away, but he has handled it well.
The next test figures to be tougher, and the growing pains will come. Scheyer’s voice will probably get louder, too.
That’s part of the deal. Boumtje Boumtje came to Duke for the hard coaching and the accountability, and through two games Scheyer has given him plenty of both.
In Other News...
Duke Just Sent A Clear Message About Nate Sheppards Rise
Dukes weekend was busy across the board, but the clearest statement came away from Cameron Indoor, where the football program formally kicked off a Heisman Trophy campaign for sophomore running back Nate Sheppard. It is the kind of move that only happens when a school believes a player has moved from promising contributor to national talking point, and Sheppard has certainly given Duke reason to make the push after leading the Power Four in multiple statistical categories.
The timing matters, too, because Dukes other teams were in the middle of a mixed stretch. The mens basketball team rolled past Coastal Carolina behind Patrick Ngongbas career-high 28 points and a double-double from Cayden Boozer, while the mens soccer team fell 2-1 to Clemson in the ACC Championship and the womens soccer team finished its regular season with a scoreless draw against Virginia. Against that backdrop, the football programs message was hard to miss: Sheppard has become one of the Blue Devils biggest national selling points, and the campaign only adds to the spotlight on what he might do next. [Read more 🡒]
Manny Diaz Rumors Put Duke Stability Back In The Spotlight
Florida States decision to move on from Mike Norvell immediately sent a ripple through the coaching carousel, and Manny Diaz found himself back in the conversation almost by default. For Duke, it is the kind of outside noise that can arrive quickly around a coach who has already helped steady the program and draw attention with a strong run, even as the Blue Devils continue to focus on their own footing in the ACC.
Diaz has already addressed the speculation and made clear he is happy at Duke, which is exactly the sort of reassurance the program wants to hear when another job opens up in the region. The timing also lands in a conference landscape where NC State has been through its own recent football changes and uneven results, a reminder that stability is a valuable commodity right now and one Duke would prefer not to lose. [Read more 🡒]
Dukes Dominant Night Put One Blue Devils Debate Front And Center
Patrick Ngongba II gave Duke exactly the kind of interior lift the Blue Devils have been looking for, pouring in 28 points and pulling down 9 rebounds in a 113-52 win over Coastal Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke controlled the game from the start, shot 61% from the field and overwhelmed the Chanticleers on the glass, turning what could have been a routine nonconference night into a showcase for its size and efficiency.
The margin was never in doubt, but the performance did sharpen a bigger conversation around this team: how much more Duke can get from Ngongba II if he keeps producing like this. Coastal Carolina had little answer, with Trey Perry leading the visitors with 14 points as the Chanticleers battled shooting issues and turnovers, while Duke kept piling on and leaving plenty for the staff and fan base to consider moving forward. [Read more 🡒]