For Duke’s Jon Scheyer, the Israel-Hamas War Affects Friends and Family

The Blue Devils’ coach—who once played professionally in Israel—spoke about the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant Palestinian group at ACC media day.

Pat Forde | Oct 25, 2023

For Duke’s Jon Scheyer, the Israel-Hamas War Affects Friends and Family /

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Duke men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer, who is Jewish and played professionally in Israel, was asked at Atlantic Coast Conference media day Wednesday for his thoughts on the Israel-Hamas war. Scheyer collected himself briefly before articulating.

“I’m not even sure I can explain what I’ve been feeling,” Scheyer said. “It’s been very heartbreaking to see. I did play in Israel. I have close friends and family that are over there right now. Our friend sent me a video yesterday of sirens going off when rockets were coming over. My heart breaks for the people in Israel—that have hostages, American lives that are taken, mourning loved ones.

Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer speaks to the media during ACC media day. — Scheyer played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2011–12 and says he has friends and family in Israel right now. :: Jim Dedmon/USA TODAY Sports

“At the same time, my heart breaks for Palestinians, with the trauma that they’re facing and what they feel. It’s an incredibly tragic thing. I think we should all pray for peace, for freedom. I’m sure like many people here in our country, it’s heartbreaking.”

Scheyer, who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2011–12, said he “loved my time in Israel” and still has close friends there. He noted that former Blue Devils forward Justin Robinson—the son of basketball Hall of Famer David Robinson, who was at Duke from ’16 to ’20—was playing professionally in Israel when the war erupted and is thankfully safe.

“It’s just a sad thing all the way around,” Scheyer said.

Coming off his first season following legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, the 36-year-old Scheyer agreed to a six-year contract extension with the school last week. Duke went 27–9 in Scheyer’s first year, winning the ACC tournament and making him the only person to win that event as both a player and a coach. Duke earned a No. 5 seed at the NCAA tournament and was eliminated in the second round by No. 4 seed Tennessee.

The Blue Devils, ranked No. 2 to start the 2023–24 campaign, will open the season Nov. 6 against Dartmouth.

Published Oct 25, 2023

PAT FORDE

Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who covers college football and college basketball as well as the Olympics and horse racing. He cohosts the College Football Enquirer podcast and is a football analyst on the Big Ten Network. He previously worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Forde has won 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and member of the Football Writers Association of America, he lives in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers.