It has taken Jon Scheyer just three years to take Duke men’s basketball to the Final Four.
But it has been a long season, and the road to the Final Four did not start with the Elite Eight or even the Round of 64. It started by almost doubling Lincoln’s score in the preseason. It started with beating Maine. Then, losses to Kentucky and Kansas followed by a 16-game win streak. A nail-biting heartbreaker against Clemson was the lone conference blemish. It featured the Cameron Crazies, the NBA Global Academy, student managers, Sion James’ leadership, Caleb Foster’s reinvention and Scheyer recruiting a teenage Cooper Flagg.
The Blue Devils fell in heartbreaking fashion to Houston in San Antonio, but this was already a historic season for Scheyer's bunch. Take a walk through the season. See where this all started.
Highlights from the regular season (28-3)
- vs. Kentucky: BIG BLUES
- Shooting inefficiency, injuries hurt No. 6 Duke men's basketball in loss to No. 19 Kentucky
- at Arizona: ARIZOWNED
- On the road against No. 17 Arizona, No. 12 Duke men's basketball didn’t let history repeat itself
- vs. Kansas: LOSS VEGAS
- 'Thrown these guys in the fire': No. 11 Duke gained valuable experience in tight contest against No. 1 Kansas
- vs. Auburn: SLIM REAPER
- ‘A special performance’: In Duke men’s basketball win against Auburn, each Blue Devil played to their strengths
- at Louisville
- ‘Noah’s Ark’: The lesson in Duke men's basketball's second-half storm against Louisville
- vs. Pittsburgh: TABLES TURNED
- In dominant win against Pittsburgh, Duke amplified the distance between itself and the rest of the ACC
- vs. North Carolina: CLASS DISMISSED
- ‘Welcome back, Maliq’: Brown’s impact on Duke men's basketball evident in decisive win against North Carolina
- at Clemson: TIGERTOWN THRILLER
- 'Every part about him was terrific': Despite loss to Clemson, Proctor's playmaking prowess evident for Duke
- vs. Illinois: CAMERON NORTH
- ‘He makes everybody better’: James’ elite 2-way ability powered Duke in landslide win against Illinois
- at North Carolina: ON THEIR HEELS
- 'Being the hunters': No. 2 Duke men's basketball turned adversity into routine road win at North Carolina
Postseason game coverage (7-0)
ACC Tournament
- vs. Georgia Tech
- Duke's response against Georgia Tech showed recipe for success against North Carolina in ACC Tournament semifinal
- vs. North Carolina: STRIKE THREE
- Duke’s semifinal thriller is what it should expect in March. The victory reaffirmed its place as a title contender
- vs. Louisville: A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN
NCAA Tournament
- vs. Mount St. Mary’s
- 'The work I put in': Proctor's confidence and flourishing leadership evident in Duke's NCAA Tournament win
- vs. Baylor: BEAR SPRAY
- ‘Really proud of him’: Proctor, Scheyer showcase twin growth in Duke’s second-round NCAA Tournament victory
- vs. Arizona: FLAGGSHIP
- 'They're not afraid': Despite foul trouble, Duke men's basketball used its depth to defeat Arizona
- vs. Alabama: JERSEY DEVILS
- How Duke men’s basketball returned to its defensive identity to down Alabama, the nation’s top-ranked offense
- vs. Houston: HEARTBREAK BY HOUSTON
- Defensive rebounding, guarding the 3-point line hurt Duke men's basketball in Final Four loss to Houston
Feature content
- Old guard, new era: Caleb Foster’s summer of growth after season-ending injury
- ‘They just need opportunities’: Maluach, Proctor and the NBA Academies diversifying college basketball
- For teammates and strangers, from New Orleans to Durham, Sion James always shows up
- Cameron Crazies: The origin stories of basketball's favorite villains
- ‘Bring barbering to basketball’: A look inside Rivals Barbershop, a Durham hub for all Tobacco Road rivalry fans
- Rebounder, bodyguard and ‘beverage czar’: Inside the work of a Duke basketball student manager
- Dr. Javier Wallace teaches the untold narratives of race and Duke men's basketball
- 'I was in the Denny's': John Feinstein's one-of-a-kind access into the Duke basketball dynasty
- Remembering John Feinstein
Columns and analysis
- The Wooden Award is a two-horse race. What do the advanced analytics have to say?
- Duke has elite freshmen talent. Scheyer's new transfer approach ensures he maximizes their potential
- How has Cooper Flagg performed offensively through 13 games, according to advanced statistics?
- Breaking down the mechanics behind Duke's defensive dominance
- Breaking down Duke's dominant offensive unit and how it has grown this season
- How to beat Duke: A guide for teams looking to unseat the top-seeded Blue Devils
- How does the 2025 Duke men's basketball team stack up against former Blue Devil championship squads?
- Cooper Flagg and Toby Fournier are two of Duke's best freshmen ever. How have they grown throughout the season?
- Crunching the numbers on Khaman Maluach's postseason development for Duke men's basketball
- How Duke men's basketball's early-season gauntlet positioned its young squad for NCAA Tournament success
Other news and blogs
- New ACC Network documentary spotlights Duke basketball’s back-to-back national titles
- Duke's Cooper Flagg unanimously named to AP All-America first team, wins Wooden Award
- No. 1 Duke men's basketball earns numerous ACC accolades, Flagg wins Player of the Year
- An early look at 'CB: Power to the Player,' a new documentary on Blue Devil basketball pioneer CB Claiborne
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