"Got to be brutal right now": Jeff Goodman weighs in on Duke's final-minute March Madness collapse affecting Jon Scheyer
It was a devastating end for Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils, who were the favorites to win March Madness but faltered in the final minute against Houston in the Final Four. Duke was in a 14-point lead, but succumbed to Houston's pressure.
All the odds and predictions pointed to Duke being a lock for the tournament, given their incredible regular season run, winning 28 games to just three losses. The team was firing on all cylinders, with freshman phenom Cooper Flagg dominating the court.
Analyst Jeff Goodman from 'Field of 68' talked to the Adam Gold Show about Duke's final-minute collapse against Houston in April and whether it's still haunting coach Jon Scheyer.
"It got to be. I mean, the last two years have been excruciating," Goodman said (Ts- 20:22). "You lose to NC State with a Final Four berth. So, you get through that, right? Like, that's eaten at you all offseason a year ago.
"You get through that, you have an unbelievable regular season. People are picking you to win the whole thing. It's there for you. It's there for the taking. And then you pissed that thing away at the end. Oh, I think it's got to be brutal right now."
Goodman added that the stars had to align for Houston to beat Duke, which they did, while everything went wrong for the Blue Devils at the same time.
"They're going to have a chance again this year, and I will say this, the Boozer twins are special," he said.
Jon Scheyer left devastated after Duke lost Final Four game to Houston
Jeff Goodman said it must be brutal for Jon Scheyer to look back on the game. Although Scheyer has not made any comments about the Houston loss, he was visibly upset when speaking after the game.
"I’m heartbroken for our team that did everything for 38 minutes or 39 minutes, and came up short,” Scheyer said from the postgame, per the NY Times. "Obviously, as a coach, I’m reflecting right now on what else I could have said or done. I’m sure there’s a lot more that I could have done to help our guys at the end there. That’s the thing that kills me the most."
Jon Scheyer lost four starters from last season's team — Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach, and Tyrese Proctor — all of whom declared for the NBA draft. Meanwhile, he added five recruits from the 2025 class, including five-star forward Cameron Boozer and his twin, Cayden Boozer.