April 3, 2025

DUKE’S JON SCHEYER RECIPIENT OF 2025 JOHN MCLENDON AWARD
Presented annually to the top head coach among all levels of college basketball.

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Duke’s Jon Scheyer is the recipient of the 2025 John McLendon National Coach of the Year award.  The award is presented annually to the top head coach among all levels of college basketball (DI, DII, DIII, NAIA, and JUCO).

In his third season, Scheyer led Duke to a 35-3 record and the 18th trip to the Final Four in school history. The Blue Devils entered the NCAA Tournament with at least 31 wins for the first time since the 1998-99 season and for just the third time in program history (1998-99, 1985-86).

Duke swept the ACC regular season and conference tournament titles for the first time since 2006, and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as the top-ranked team in the nation.

“Following in the footsteps of greatness can be overwhelming for many, but Jon Scheyer has quickly proven to be up to the task,” said Angela Lento, Vice President of CollegeInsider.com. “He has combined that toughness, which made him one of the great players to ever come out of Chicago, with a down to earth personable approach to make him one of the best coaches in college basketball. Jon Scheyer is the genuine article.”

Scheyer became the first coach in conference history to win two ACC Tournament championships in his first three seasons as a head coach, he has amassed 89 victories to exceed the standard set by Bill Guthridge (80, North Carolina, 1997-2000) for the most wins by an ACC coach in their first three seasons. He is one win shy of the most wins by any coach in their first three seasons in division I history.

The 2025 tournament title came on the heels of a superlative ACC regular season that saw Duke go 19-1 with an average margin of victory of 21.7 points per game in the league. This marked the first season since 2006 for the Blue Devils to claim both the outright regular season title and the tournament championship. That double has only been accomplished in the ACC 10 times since 1990, and Duke owns five of them (1992, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2025).

Prior to taking the helm, Scheyer served on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff since the 2013-14 season. His previous roles with the Blue Devils include special assistant, assistant coach and the previous three years as associate head coach. Scheyer and Duke agreed to a new six-year contract in October of 2023, extending him through the 2028-29 season.

As a player, Scheyer was one of the most versatile and reliable Blue Devils all-time, concluding his career as the only player in school history to record at least 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists, 250 three-point field goals and 200 steals. He averaged 14.4 points per game while scoring in double figures 114 times (sixth-most in Duke history) and leading the Blue Devils to a 115-29 (.799) record.

The Coach John McLendon award is named in honor of one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport. A trailblazer and one of the true pioneers of the game, McLendon became the first African American coach to win an integrated national championship. His team went on to win the NAIA Division I Men's Tournament in 1957, 1958 and 1959, making him the first coach in history to win three consecutive NAIA championships.

In 1962 he became the first African American head coach in a major professional league (ABL) with the Cleveland Pipers. In 1966 he became the first African-American head coach of predominantly-white university, when he took over the Cleveland State program. He led the team to their best record in school history.

In 1969, McLendon was hired by the Denver Rockets and became the first African American head coach in the American Basketball Association. After a brief stint with the Rockets, McLendon ended his 25-year professional coaching career with a winning percentage of .760 and a lifetime career average of 523 victories and 165 losses.

Coach McLendon passed away on October 8, 1999. He was 84 years of age.