Duke Men's Head Basketball Coach Jon Scheyer speaks ahead of the ACC Tournament in Charlotte
Well with that I'll um I'll turn it over to
the 2026 ACC Coach of the Year John Shire
Thank you
Thank you
Uh well I just uh good to see you guys
I know you guys are all all in different spots
I wanted to just give an update on Caleb and
Pat
I I'll answer any questions with those guys or or
our team as well before the tournament
Um uh Caleb suffered a fracture in his foot in
the game on Saturday
Um he uh immediately after the game just saying you
know I'm gonna be back I'm gonna be back
He got surgery first thing Sunday morning
He's on the path he's on the road to recovery
Uh in in his mind in our our mind we'll
do everything we possibly can uh with our mindset to
continue to advance where we can give him a shot
to come back when it's all said and done
Uh but he is gonna be out for you know
a foreseeable time here coming up
Um uh as far as Pat goes Pat's out for
the ACC tournament
He's dealing with some soreness in his foot
Um his thing is not at all like Caleb's
Uh our mindset is to get ready for the NCAA
tournament
That's a priority
That's our focus
We're gonna get him right uh where he's ready to
uh join us when we when we go for the
real thing here in the NCAA tournament but we're not
gonna play him
He's gonna be out this week uh get him some
rest get him recovered um and and and to join
us back
Um And um I can tell you the the beauty
for me which is why I didn't you know want
to put out a statement
I didn't wanna I wanna just speak to you guys
and tell you just face to face or again over
Zoom uh both those dudes like Pat I said it
before the game he was dying to be out there
with his teammates
He's dying to be out there with his teammates the
ACC tournament
This is us protecting him
It's what's smartest it's what's best
And then Caleb's case literally all he kept saying was
I'm gonna be back
Like I'll do whatever it takes
I'll be back
um and so he's gonna be rehabbing like crazy
He's gonna be resting that's the that's the biggest priority
right now
Um I'm happy to answer a couple questions on either
of those guys and then take any other questions from
there
All right the first question is from Aaron Beard
Go ahead Aaron
Yeah John just to clarify on Pat is it as
simple as you rest him and then he's ready to
go for the first game of the NCAA tournament or
is it you rest him and then wait and see
for the 1st round or the 2nd round of the
NCAA tournament that there's still maybe a a bit of
a moving target here as to when exactly he could
be ready Well I don't think we have a crystal
ball in terms of you rest uh 5 days and
the 6th day he's ready
I think there's a little bit of it where you
have to be you wanna make sure he feels as
best as possible uh but our intention is for him
to play in the tournament
I mean that's the intention
And uh we'll cross that bridge next week to you
know really see you know how he's feeling and making
sure that just his soreness is down
Uh but he's gonna play
It's a matter of of when and our expectation is
it's going to be at the beginning of the tournament
Our next question is from Connor O'Neill
Go ahead Connor
John I've watched the play with that Caleb was involved
in it several times
Is it just an awkward plant that that got in
there Yeah exactly
It was just an awkward play you know he he
lunged and it just just happened you know he wasn't
feeling anything before it it just happened really out of
nowhere and you hate to see it
Uh uh some things you feel are preventable and you
wanna
You know manage it and other things and other times
freak things happen and I think this is one of
them you know with Caleb
Our next question is from Royal Howell
Go ahead Royal
Coach how does this pretty much change your progression of
getting um you know deaf and um you know getting
those role players suited for you know ACC tournament and
March Madness Well I I would just say I think
um one our our team is determined you know to
to come right back on Thursday and to pick up
where we left off
Understanding that it's different without you know both of those
guys of course
I mean those guys are a huge part of what
we've done uh but we're not changing the way we
play
You know we're not changing how we how we defend
and how we guard
I think part of the beauty of what we've done
this season by playing 9 guys and you know Darren
getting back in that rotation the way that he's played
uh all 7 guys are impactful players and you can
have a really good rotation with those guys
So um now again 3 games in 3 days is
that a lot And I don't know
I mean that's we don't we don't approach it for
3 games
We approach it for 1 game
We have to win Thursday and then you cross that
bridge if you're fortunate to win for the next day
So for me this isn't about changing who we are
changing our identity
Uh you know I love the job that Caden Boozer
has done all year all year long
Uh you look at the second half the way he
controlled the game
You look at Malik's um imprints all over the game
I think obviously again Pat out there you know we're
back to that dynamic of our front court you know
and being solidified and what it is and then uh
uh Nick Darren Isaiah Dame our perimeter players uh will
be really important to what we do
As a reminder if you have a question for coach
use the raise your hand tool and it does not
have to be related to injuries
Uh Donald Wine is up next
Thank you Kyle
Good morning coach
Uh I I actually will break up the uh the
questions and ask you about first of all congratulations on
winning Coach of the Year
I know you don't like to talk about yourself so
I'll ask you about your coaching staff and how they've
kinda helped get you in there
I mean the first coach to win uh Duke coach
to win ACC on the men's side since 2000 is
a tremendous achievement
But talk about your coaching staff and how they've helped
this year in getting you to have your name on
that award
Well thank you
And at the same time I don't wanna diminish it
either because I think it's you know I'm uncomfortable with
an individual coaching award because there's no such thing as
an individual coach
You don't you don't coach your your your you have
to have the right players you have to have the
right staff around you and
And that's where to your question Donald I'm incredibly grateful
we have an amazing staff
Uh I think the diversity of background still has been
a big strength for us
You have the fact of you have a Chris Cawell
right by my side who's been with me through it
all and has the experience of everything we've seen at
Duke together uh but then you bring in Evan Brad's
and Tyler Thornton
Tyler obviously has known Duke as a
Player but their experience you know what that's meant to
us is totally different you know um you know uh
Emmanuel you know being with us the last few years
and his attention to detail and his impact
So I can go down the line uh you know
Rachel Baker you know and what she's meant to me
and our staff the last few years
Uh I think there's great cohesiveness
I think we have um a great way of bouncing
things off one another and they do a great job
of checking my blind spots and calling me out when
I don't see something and I think that's the the
making of a great staff
Brendan Marks go ahead
Hey John yeah I just wanted to clarify one more
thing on Caleb
You mentioned obviously you guys are gonna try and advance
as far as you can so that he has a
chance to come back
Is is are you uh just to specify is that
saying do you have a certain weekend in mind when
he might be able to back as far as like
specifics of that timeline I I think the reality of
it is uh we we'd have to advance to a
Final Four
And is there a chance earlier I I'm not gonna
eliminate that you know right now but I think that's
really difficult you know to try to even imagine that
scenario um but uh it's gonna be you know we're
not gonna have them the next you know couple weeks
next few weeks here
Uh so but again in Caleb's mind he's gonna be
back tomorrow
You know like uh and so so for me like
I'm I'm with him in the sense of doing something
that hasn't been done
Like I'm with him in the sense of let's chase
this let's let's keep winning and let's give him the
opportunity to join us
Um but um but he needs to have after surgery
you need you need two weeks where you're Resting recovering
in the right way uh and then we'll be able
to see what's possible then
Thanks
Jim Sumner
Hey John good morning
Good morning
Um last Thursday the presser before the Carolina game you
talked about Cam Sheffield and Scott about how valuable they
were in practice how hard that they they push your
starters
Is there a scenario where either of both of these
guys get some playing time with Caleb out or are
you comfortable with the seven-player rotation Right now they're not
in the plans to get you know minutes although they
they have to be ready
And uh situational situations uh the situa that's I'm making
up words now
That's what I'm doing
Game game situations um foul trouble uh both those guys
have experience uh they understand what we're trying to do
uh defensively
Uh they need we need we need them to be
ready and uh they they will be and I won't
be surprised to see him at the same time I
won't be surprised if it's the 7 7-man rotation either
OK well let me ask you assuming that that Boozer
doesn't play 40 minutes a game at point guard uh
I I know there are some games
I would assume that it's it's but but no go
ahead
I was gonna ask you about Nick
There were some games during the year where you had
him playing playing point guard
Is he an option for some you know 5 minutes
a game at point guard while for us uh one
it's a little bit what we've done
It's by committee
I think that's it's not gonna be just one guy
Uh and and when when Cadden's out of the game
um when and if he's out of the game I
think the fact of uh Us having multiple ball handlers
that's where it's really gonna come in handy you know
I mean literally 1 through 5 can initiate offense and
bring up the ball
And so that's something we're gonna work on today frankly
OK thanks
Thanks Ryan Murphy
Yeah John I appreciate the time
Um how how do you approach the ACC tournament Obviously
you know with with only 7 guys and you you
probably wanna win it but how much do you push
guys to play you know 38 39 minutes versus trying
to get ready for next week And how do you
how do you walk that line Well I I think
uh I said this after the game and and it's
it's not it's just the reality um
You know our our goal is to be in a
position to to uh to to win this thing to
win the big one
And um you know 3 games in 3 days can
take a lot out of you
I don't even think we approach it thinking that way
Like for me it's let's win Thursday
Like how can we be at our best for Thursday
Uh how can we play to our habits I don't
wanna uh I'll trick somebody you know to win
Like we got to make sure we adjust and adapt
and be smart with who we have
But at the end of the day like I want
us just to take it game by game
And I think approaching it to win Helps you get
ready for the NCAA tournament and uh I think we're
gonna learn some new things which I'm excited about
Uh but yeah that's the priority
Like how can we be um by the end of
you know the following week we're at our best and
ready to go the following Thursday or whatever it is
Best I heard
Hi John
I I just wanted to ask from a mental standpoint
um getting this news obviously heading into the postseason how
have your players been able to process it um and
how are you helping them processing losing you know their
floor general heading into the postseason Well I think simply
put our guys are heartbroken for Caleb uh heartbroken for
him you know these guys love him
I thought that was part of why we stepped up
in a big way in the second half was just
you know having his back
Um at at the same time you're not gonna see
us make any excuses
You know you're not gonna see us flinch uh because
uh that's what Caleb would want and that's what we
owe him
And so for our guys I think there's still an
incredible belief in what we can do um how we
can play how we can win
Uh you know gotta be tighter in the margins and
things we have to clean up and and and all
that but uh unfortunately I've been in this position before
last year in the ACC tournament you know I mean
we I didn't plan on going into the tournament without
Malik and uh Cooper and we did
And so I think this is part of what a
team is all about uh stepping up and You know
if this creates more doubt or whatever it is I
I think the belief that we have in this locker
room if you saw the way that our guys talk
and how we act uh and how we practice the
the belief is there 100% and we're not gonna make
any excuses
We gotta have Caleb's back
We gotta get Pat back healthy as quickly as possible
and we'll be ready to roll
Go ahead Brendan
Hey John yeah just on the note about Pat you
mentioned sort of a lingering foot soreness
Was there any like acute incident that caused this or
just lingering wear and tear What do you sort of
attribute it to Yeah uh this is this is all
recent you know started to feel a little bit in
the NC State game you know and as we progressed
that week we just uh couldn't uh he just didn't
feel like he can move the way that he needs
to to be effective in the game and Uh we
wanna be cautious with him
Bottom line we wanna be cautious get him feeling his
best
Not one singular not one singular thing uh happened though
Thank you
Connor John obviously Caleb went through this
Kind of very similar scenario two years ago
How does that help him in that experience and I
I know he was working then to try to get
back to to where you guys were
So does that play a factor here Yeah well I
I think there's there's an incredible drive that Caleb has
right And and the fact of you know this happening
his freshman year and then similar thing happens this year
I think you can it's natural to think man why
me Or like why you know just like why is
this happening He's had an incredible attitude
His focus has been fully on how how I'm coming
back from this but I do know his leadership doesn't
stop just because he's not on the floor
I think one of the most valuable things that he's
done for our team this year outside of making threes
and defending and doing all all of that good stuff
his voice man like is is huge for our team
you know I think part of what I attributed our
response to losing and what our team has done since
then is what Caleb has done behind the scenes
In our team meetings uh his voice in practice before
practice so that's not gonna stop uh and I think
that's the thing he knows he can control while he's
rehabbing and getting back ready to go
Is that all All right those are all the questions
we have
All right thank you guys