GREENSBORO, N.C. — Jon Scheyer stood on the stage, wiping his brow as he scanned the bubbly crowd while his Duke players danced around the ACC tournament championship trophy.
That’s when Kyle Filipowski walked up behind his coach and wrapped an arm around him.
The youthful Blue Devils — from their freshmen to their 35-year-old rookie head coach — could savor a moment that felt oh so familiar for the blue-blood program.
Filipowski had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the tournament’s MVP and No. 21 Duke locked down defensively to beat No. 13 Virginia 59-49 in Saturday night’s ACC tournament championship game, securing a title in Scheyer’s debut season as the successor to Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“Coming in, everyone was talking about, ‘We’re too young, Scheyer’s first year,'” freshman guard Tyrese Proctor said while standing amid confetti strewn about the court. “We just stuck together all year and just didn’t give up.”
Jeremy Roach scored 19 of his career-high 23 points after halftime for the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (26-8), who completed a final-month surge to the top of the ACC to claim a league-record 22nd championship.
Only now, it’s with the former Blue Devils player and assistant coach in charge.
Scheyer spent last year as the coach-in-waiting for Krzyzewski’s last Final Four run, assembled the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class and then masterfully led that group through youthful ups and downs to enter the NCAA tournament on a nine-game winning streak.
Yes, he said, the new players who arrived this season or returned from last year wanted to be part of Duke’s tradition. But it was also a leap of faith at a pivotal moment of change for the program too.
“They believed in us and in me,” Scheyer said, “and obviously I felt that way about each of them.”
It all had Scheyer soaking up the scene of celebrating fans from his midcourt-stage perch and basking in “a surreal feeling.” That includes becoming the first to win an ACC tournament…
