In Jon Scheyer’s first NCAA Tournament as Duke’s head coach, the Blue Devils made it to the Round of 32 as a No. 5 seed before losing to No. 4 seed Tennessee in Orlando. The following year, the former 2010 national champion point guard and 2015 national champion assistant coach led his No. 4 seed team to the Elite Eight, where they fell to No. 11 seed NC State in Dallas.

Now, coming off their second ACC Tournament title under Scheyer, the 2024-25 Blue Devils (31-3) enter the tournament as a No. 1 seed with high expectations. They will face No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s (23-12) in the East Regional Round of 64 in Raleigh at 2:50 p.m. ET on Friday (CBS).

Ironically, Duke starts this year’s tournament beneath NC State’s 2024 Final Four banner at the Lenovo Center. For the Blue Devils, that banner serves as a reminder of their painful exit last season in Scheyer’s third year as head coach.

During a press conference on Thursday, the 37-year-old Scheyer admitted he hadn’t thought about the significance of that Wolfpack banner hanging overhead. However, now that it has been brought to his attention, he plans to use it as extra motivation.

“Yeah, I didn’t think of that,” said Scheyer, who holds an 85-21 overall record (80.2 percent) and is 4-2 in NCAA Tournament games. Reflecting on his growth as a coach since Duke’s loss to Tennessee two years ago, he added, “No, it’s going to give me even extra motivation being here.”

Scheyer explained that throughout his coaching journey, he has found different sources of motivation, and this banner is just another one. He emphasized that the most important thing for a coach is providing clarity to players, ensuring they understand their roles without overwhelming them with too many instructions.

“In the details, I think clarity is a big thing,” Scheyer said.

He reflected on his personal growth, emphasizing the importance of making sure his players clearly understand what is expected of them. This focus on clarity has been a key part of his coaching philosophy.

“When I’m in this tournament, I always take what happened last year and use it as motivation,” Scheyer concluded. “That’s never going to change. That’s only going to help.”