The Duke Blue Devils and head coach Jon Scheyer appeared to be a near lock to move on to the Final Four on Sunday evening against the UConn Huskies.
At halftime of the Elite Eight matchup, Duke held a commanding 44-29 lead. In that scenario, No. 1 seeds were 134-0 all-time when leading by 15 points or more at halftime. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they made history in a negative way.
Duke gave up a turnover with just a couple of seconds left and watched UConn freshman guard Braylon Mullins knock down a 35-foot three-point attempts for the win.
Losing in that fashion marked the second straight year that the Blue Devils have blown a big lead to be eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. Last season, Duke suffered the same kind of loss against the Houston Cougars.
With that being said, the reactions coming out of the Blue Devils’ latest collapse have not been good.
Dave Portnoy Urges Duke to Fire Jon Scheyer
Immediately following the game, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy took to social media to begin the “Fire Jon Scheyer” trend.
“Is it too early to say you got to fire Jon Scheyer? 2 years in a row!!! Worst collapses in the history of the sport!” Portnoy said.
“Duke is filled with losers now! Choke artists! Guys who can’t win! Loserville! Bums! Choke Artists! SOFT!”
Truthfully, it would be an incredibly irresponsible decision to fire Scheyer. He has become one of the best head coaches in college basketball. The loss was devastating, as was last year’s loss, but firing him would be a major setback.
Scheyer deserves to remain the head coach at Duke. But, he’ll need to make sure that he figures out how to overcome the last two years of collapses and fixes the issue for next season.
Taking a Look at Scheyer’s Tenure With the Blue Devils So Far
Scheyer took over the Duke job back in the 2022-23 season. In four years, he has compiled a 124-25 record, which is good enough for an 83.2 win percentage.
The Blue Devils have made the NCAA Tournament in all four years under Scheyer. He has led the program to two Elite Eights and a Final Four during that timeframe.
Few coaches have the kind of success so early that Scheyer has had. Granted, he was handed the keys to one of the most historic programs in college basketball. He has still found ways to win at a high level and should not be fired.
Portnoy is known for his outlandish takes. This can be added to that category. No one should expect to see Scheyer lose his job this offseason.
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