Duke guard Jon Scheyer is on a quest and his family now knows it shouldn’t doubt him. The 6-foot-5 senior leads the top-seeded Blue Devils into Friday’s first round of the NCAA Tournament after failing to win one Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title outright or reach a Final Four.
“I think it’s worth saying again that all I’ve wanted to do since I’ve been here is win championships,” Scheyer recently told The Fayetteville Observer. “That’s it. No matter how enjoyable my career has been otherwise, without those things I think I’ll always feel like I left something on the table.”
Six years ago in Northbook, Ill., his obvious potential had many pushing him to a higher- profile high school than Glenbrook North. However, he stayed local and led it to an unlikely big-school state title his senior year.
“I get chills thinking about it,” said his father, Jim. “That wasn’t my vision. It wasn’t (mother) Laury’s. It wasn’t his coaches’. That was Jon’s vision, and it never occurred to him that anything else would happen.”
If Duke wins a title this year, Scheyer will be a big reason. He leads Duke in scoring (averaging 18.6 points) and assists (5.0).
Favorite: Duke
The Blue Devils are a No. 1 seed even though they didn’t win a watered-down Atlantic Coast Conference outright during the regular season. Duke relies heavily on the outside shot with three players — Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith — all hitting about 40 percent from 3-point range. Duke’s defense should protect it from any cold shooting nights. Opponents are shooting only 40 percent, including a frosty 27 percent from trey land, second-best in the country.
Sleeper: Baylor
The third-seeded Bears get neophyte Sam Houston State then meet either a Notre Dame team that was on the bubble or an 11th seed, Old Dominion. If Baylor survives, it will advance to the Sweet 16 just down the road in Houston where it will have a home-court advantage. Baylor is real stingy, giving up only 38 percent shooting, fifth nationally. Ekpe Udoh’s 9.7 rebounds per game help give the Bears a rebound margin of plus-7.0, eighth- best in the country.
Upset alert: Siena over Purdue
Purdue has shown it’s not the same team it was before star forward Robbie Hummel blew out his knee in late February. The Boilermakers are 3-2 since the injury and just got annihilated by a bubble team in Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament. Siena has been in this position before. It returns four starters from last year’s 27-8 team that stunned Ohio State in the first round.
Bracket breakdown
Observers say Duke has the easiest route to the Final Four with a beat-up Purdue team as a No. 4 seed and a Baylor team it has already beaten once as a No. 3 seed. However, Big East power Villanova is one of the toughest teams in the country and could be favored on a neutral court against a Duke team that hasn’t been to the Final Four in six years.
