So How’d He Do?

One of the first things we noticed about Jon Scheyer at his introductory press conference was language.

He was of course polite and respectful, especially towards his superiors at Duke and Coach K, as you’d expect.

But he spoke also in the casual language that younger people use and that’s one thing that, for all of his many unusual gifts, Mike Krzyzewski can’t be: young.

Scheyer isn’t that much older than the players he recruits and he’s completely at home with mobile phones, Twitter, Instagram and, God help us, Facebook.

Coach K is smart enough to be aware of this and has talked about it in his books. For instance, he studies current music so he knows what guys care about and are listening to and drops it in conversation.

Scheyer may actually have the song on his phone or watch.

Of course there is no substitute for experience and that’s gained through trial and error, or, if you’re lucky, by having a mentor who can help you keep between the lines. Fortunately, he’ll have that too, as he mentioned.

In general, we thought he came across as composed, thoughtful and well aware of what he’ll face.

As long as he has the support of his superiors and players, and of course the rest of us, we think he’ll do well. But all of us need to give him room to fail and learn and try again. He won’t know everything on Day One. No one does.