Before breakfast there is a quick stop on driving.
It may seem trivial that the hit of the ball of the ball was Jon Scheyer’s last morning official visit to Cooper Flagg in Duke-22. October 2023. But the coach wanted one last window on one with recruitment No. 1, and came to make Newport, Maine, native to Golf. In fact, in the middle of Flagg’s meteoric ascend to become the best view of the NBA in America, high school often found retribution while playing 18 in Fogg Brook Resort, a local course near his children’s home.
During the recruitment process, Scheyer met almost everything about Flagg and his family. Since the first time he saw Flagg to play live, the court in the game of the local game, Scheyer was convinced that 6-Naha-9 forward was the type of generation talent worth building the list around. The type, which has the Dukes and Flagg, who became the best player in university basketball, two games from the national title, because Final Four begins on Saturday in San Antonio.
Scheyer therefore went into building a relationship necessary to land such a transcendental recruitment. But with Flagg on academic ground, the coach needed to kill his last impression.
When they hit the balls for Washington Duke Inn, Scheyer secretly hoped that Flagg could tie his hand. Instead, the teenager was silent. After about half an hour they dropped their clubs and went to a private canteen. Parents Flagg, Kelly and Ralph, plus the CEO of Duke Rachel Baker, were waiting for five at the table.
Then, in the middle of breakfast, Flagg dropped the bomb: Actually, he had decided.
He came to the Duke.
“I cried,” Scheyer said AthleticThink about the morning that changed the trajectory of his program. “I’m not ashamed to admit it.”
Hoopl followed. More tears. Ceremonial cries. Eventually Scheyer arrested Flagg for keeping his cards so close to his vest: “I’m glad, dude, I was just with you 30 minutes and you didn’t say anything!”
The connection of Flagg and Scheyer eventually sold it. Eighteen months later, it is the same link between two front men Blue Devils, which has a program that is close to the history of College Hoops, starting with colleague 1 Houston in Alamodome.
“(Cooper) knew that moment,” Kelly said. “He knew and never looked. He was so sure of his decision from the first day, and he and Jon are together. They really are.”
Duke coach Jon Scheyer and Star Freshman Cooper Flagg have created a connection that could lead Duke to another national title. (C. Morgan Engel / NCAA Photos through Getty Images)
A few months ago, browsing some old photographs, Kelly came across the Christmas list of her son’s wishes since he was in the fourth grade.
With a gift of backward view, it could not be more on the nose: jersey Jayson Tatum, Duke, Duke socks and Dukes.
Like a mother like a son.
“He was the Duke’s fan because I was,” Kelly added, “so he had no choice.”
But this predisposition of the Duke did not guarantee that he would become a star of Blue Devils. He was still on Scheyer – in the middle of his crossing from the assistant coach to the successor of Mike Krzyzewski – to persuade Flagg and his family that the Duke was a program that would best prepare him for the NBA and push everything out of one year to college.
Scheyer first saw Flagg in Nike’s Peach Jam in 2022, on the recommendation of the long -time center of Boston Celtics Brian Scalabrine, who watched the 13 -year -old Flagg dominates university players in the open gym. “I remember watching him and saying, Scal was right,” Scheyer said. “It took me about 90 seconds (to realize it).”
However, NCAA rules prohibit how early university trainers can contact potential recruits, so Scheyer began to indirectly build his relationship with Flagg – through Kelly. Because Flagg’s mother was one of his coaches Maine United, university coaches were allowed to contact Kelly before ever approaching their son. “We started building a relationship,” Kelly said, “and I think the foundation really helped that when he was able to start conversation with Cooper, he was a little more comfortable.”
The first night coaches were allowed to reach players, in the summer between Flagg’s Freshman and Sophomore Seasons, Kelly and Ralph remember important names that have seen on their phones: Bill Self, John Calipari.
“But Jon’s call,” Kelly said, “he was definitely the one I was hoping for.”
There were two differences between Scheyer and some of these other coaches. The first was that, according to Flagg Scheyer, he didn’t want to praise his game.
“Something that stuck all the time was his honesty,” Flagg said. “The coach has always been honest with me with his vision what he saw – I think he would even criticize some of my games that came and watched. That’s the thing I was looking for.”
And secondly? Scheyer had previously “passed this way”, according to Kelly’s words. 37 -year -old man did not play only in Duke; He took Blue Devils, where Flagg hoped to lead his future school: the National Championship.
To this moment, Scheyer becomes just an eighth man who will play and train in Final Four, join Dean Smith, Bob Knight, Billy Donovan, Hubert Davis, Vic Bubas, Bones McKinney and Dick Harp. And he should cut networks in Duke on Monday evening, he would be the first to win it as a player and coach at his Alma Maler.
During his recruitment, Flagg rarely told his parents what he thought, one way or another. Kelly remembers that Scheyer told her he was talking to Flagg a week ago and wondering if they said something about their conversation.
Nothing.
“Cooper is quite close about all these things,” Kelly said. “I did some interference when it comes to planning times with coaches when I knew he would be available, but he spoke to them very much and checked who he liked or not.”
In the end, Flagg narrowed his finalists to two: Duke and Uconn, the ruling national champions.
Flagg and his family first visited Uconn before traveling to Durham in October 2023. On Friday evening they attended the preference event, countdown in madness before they settled for the rest of the weekend.
And while Breakfast was on Sunday when Flagg officially gave his verbal commitment, his parents claim that on Saturday there was another previously unexplored moment when they could come.
During the meeting with Krzyzewski in the sixth floor in the hall of the Hall of Fame with a view of the Indoor Cameron stadium, Flagg turned to Kelly and Ralph… and blinked.
“He said something that really resonated with Cooper in her heart,” Kelly said without revealing the specifics. “That was the moment, a nail in a coffin where I was quite sure he decided.”
After Duke lost his latest postseason in the ELITE Eight, Scheyer knew he needed serious changes in the list to get his program via Hrb. Exodus came in the form of seven blue devils who moved. Four were former five -star recruits and two were appetizers of all games.
In their absence, Scheyer rebuilt his team around the talents of his coming seventeen -year -old star.
“Look, you know that Cooper will be a big player in the impact,” Scheyer said. “Do you know the national player of the year? Hope – but you don’t know. So our team had to change.”
In the perhaps the strongest show of Scheyer’s faith in Flagg, the Duke of the Third Year of the coach, he rebuilt his rotation around Flagg and even consulted with his family.
“He told us where he was looking and who he was thinking about, and he even asked our thoughts sometimes,” Ralph said. “We’ve never really doubted Jon a little about it, I don’t think. He was always honest.”
This honesty was transferred to the court, despite the spectacular Flagg season, which saw him to absorb almost every national price and lost only once from thanksgiving (despite some of the early lumps at non -conference losses for Kentucky and Kansas). He leads the Duke in all five main statistical categories – the first freshman to do so and at the same time led his team to the NCAA tournament. In Sweet 16 he poured up to 30 points in a complete performance against Arizona. He is just the second player who at any time – joined the former Duke Legend Grant Hill, probably the best player who had ever created the school – for an average of 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists in Postseason entering the finals.
Yet Scheyer does not go soon with No. 1 selecting differently than the last man on the bench.
Evidence? Turn the tape on Duke’s elite eight victories over Alabama No. 2 in which Flagg fought more than usual. Yes, he gained 16 points … but on 16 shots; He also had more turnover (four) than he had in almost two months. According to Kenpom, it was the worst offensive Flagg rating throughout the season. That is why within the other half of the time limit, after Flagg settled with the elbow sweater (and missed) instead of riding a cup, Scheyer lit it: “I need to be harder,” he looked.
“You get all around him and he takes it,” Scheyer said. “He was an amazing coach because he’s not over nothing. And I think he’s as true to him as you will ever be around. So once you are with him, you are inside.”
Scheyer is.
At the beginning of this season in Cameron Indoor took part in the game whose father works in the press, and Nadal Kelly two shirts with pictures of her son. One of them, in black, wore Kelly on the elite eight. But the second, in White, was again on Scheyer’s wife Marcelle-Pouze for Scheyer’s middle child, Jett, claimed as her own. So, despite the fact that it is too large, Jett was in Newark, NJ, drowned in the Cooper Flagg shirt, waving to Blue Devils – and Flagg, especially – when they left the hotel to the arena.
Scheyer and Flagg have two games together. Eighty minutes, peaks. Scheyer made his star a favor last weekend in Newark and finally threw cold water for misleading hypothetics that flagg could do something other than to declare for the NBA design at the end of the season: “It happens as it should.”
For Scheyer, Landing Flagg was Gorfirmer Identity. It was strengthened by more than just the successor of Krzyzewski, but one of the best coaches in sports. And for Flagg, the bind of Scheyer was what he needed: a coach who would hold him responsible and help him improve.
There is no better phase than Final Four – and only for the second time, all four seeds No. 1 created the last weekend – for Scheyer and Flagg they show the fruits of their relationship. Just as he did against Arizona, when he put Blue Devils into the elite eight almost with almost one hand, Flagg showed the ability to bear the Dukes in the cup. Good thing, because that’s what will take to defeat the two best seeds in San Antonio and hang up the sixth national national championship.
Duke is on the abyss, as he does, just like Flagg and Scheyer dreamed many months ago.
It is worth tears of an adult man, don’t you think?
(Illustrations: Demetrius Robinson / Athletic;; Photos: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images, Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
