Duke Basketball: Jon Scheyer Jokes About First Technical Foul
Some say head coaches are only bonafide once they earn their first technical foul. And some begged Jon Scheyer to force his first T last season in response to the throat punch and the likes that eventual ACC Rookie of the Year Kyle Filipowski sustained without a peep from conference refs.
Well, the second-year head coach saved his first time for Friday night, helping to energize the No. 9 Blue Devils early in their 90-60 home win over the Bucknell Bison.
In the minutes leading up to the under-12 timeout, Blue Devil Country on SI.com determined from press row that Scheyer looked dead set on landing a technical.
He was visibly upset, storming up and down the sideline searching for an official to yell at after watching Duke rookie Sean Stewart draw significant contact on a few possessions and sophomore Mark Mitchell dunk amid battering traffic, all without a whistle for his chiseled forwards.
That observation aligns with what the 36-year-old initially suggested in his press conference, albeit jokingly, noting it was to help commemorate his 500th outing between his days as a Duke player, assistant, and head coach.
"They told me right before the game it was my 500th game at Duke as a coach and a player," Scheyer remarked, "so I wanted to have something memorable from it.
"No, it's just that I'll always go to bat for my guys. I was fired up because Sean went to the basket hard, and Mark went to the basket hard. I'm sure I'll have some texts about it, but that's how it goes."
Mitchell finished with a career-high and game-high 20 points, adding six rebounds, two assists, and one block across his 22 minutes as a starter. Stewart played a career-high 16 minutes off the bench, totaling six points, seven boards, one dime, and three steals.
At the end of his presser, Scheyer said that he doesn't recall ever getting a technical as a player.
Jon Scheyer and his Duke Blue Devils (4-1) next play on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET when they face the La Salle Explorers in the squad's second of three games as host of the Blue Devil Challenge.
Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball news.
