Duke head coach Jon Scheyer is working quickly to differentiate himself from Coach K. To that end, he’s made a notable change to Duke’s schedule.
According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, Duke have added a home-and-home series against PAC-12 conference champion Arizona for 2023 and 2024. The Blue Devils will host the Wildcats in 2023, while the Wildcats will host the Blue Devils the following year.
Norlander noted that it’s a move Coach K did a lot less in his final years with the team. Duke rarely scheduled non-conference road games outside of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
It will also mark the first regular season meeting between the two teams in nearly a decade. Arizona leads Duke in their series 5-4, last winning in 2013 at Madison Square Garden.
Coach K fell out of home-and-home scheduling as his career went on at Duke; if Duke played a noncon game on the road in the past 15 years, it was usually ACC/Big Ten Challenge-related. Jon Scheyer leaning into home-and-homes is good for the sport.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) July 18, 2022
Fans are praising Jon Scheyer for having the guts to schedule a series against one of the top programs in the country.
Arizona are coming off a 33-4 season that saw them win both the PAC-12 regular season and Tournament titles. They went on to reach the Sweet 16 under first year head coach Tommy Lloyd.
Despite Duke’s recruiting excellence, beating Arizona probably won’t be an easy W.
Will Duke come to regret adding Arizona to their schedule? Or will these games strengthen their NCAA Tournament resumes over the next two years?