Jon Scheyer to SI: Coach K Has Gotten Really Good at Zoom

Assistant told Sports Illustrated about challenges of recruiting

Duke associate head coach Jon Scheyer spoke to Sports Illustrated’s Jason Jordan on Wednesday and gave more information on the challenges of recruiting during a stay-at-home order.

“It’s a lot of Zoom calls with recruits, which I give Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) a lot of credit. He’s gotten really good at,” Scheyer said. “Same thing with our staff and figuring out ways we can connect without seeing them in person. It’s an unusual thing to figure out, but we’re lucky to have a creative team, and it’s really been a great challenge.”

While mastering the technology has been a challenge, it has opened up free time for the staff to work on ways to reach recruits in their homes.

“It’s a lot of time where we’re not on the road, so you really get a chance to focus in on this,” Scheyer said. “It’s really been a great challenge, to be honest with you.”

There has been talk that recruits are committing earlier than usual, since they’re home during the pandemic. Scheyer said Duke isn’t worried about changing anyone’s timeline.

“For us, we always go by what the recruit is thinking,” he said. “For somebody, I think it’s important to know what their timeline is, and we’ll adjust to that. The coronavirus and COVID doesn’t really impact in terms of us … look, if someone wanted to commit tomorrow, that’s great. We’ll see our fair share. Some guys may do something early. Some guys may wait. We’ll respect either way. It’s up to them completely.”