“My dad gets the assist”: Duke HC Jon Scheyer reveals how Kon Knueppel was scouted ahead of joining Duke
Kon Knueppel did a bit of everything for Jon Scheyer in Duke’s exhibition game against the Arizona State Sun Devils. While leading the Blue Devils in scoring, the freshman facilitated the ball and crashed the board in the first half. The second half saw him sinking into the role of a sniper, where he made four 3-pointers within three minutes, including a four-point play.
With Knueppel posting 19 points, five rebounds and four assists, Jon Scheyer was asked about his idea of recruiting the freshman from Milwaukee. Scheyer credited his father for the scouting, Jim Scheyer, who informed him about Kon Knueppel's talent in high school.
"I remember getting a text one day from my dad. Believe it or not, my dad gets the assist because somebody texts him about this kid from the Midwest and just an hour north of us in Milwaukee and I said 'Sure dad, I'm sure he's a good player,'" Jon Scheyer said in the post-game conference.
"And then I had a chance to see Kon at an NBA camp, I saw a film of him and I saw him in person at NBA camp and it's you know, you're not seeing them in his natural, they don't have plays there. You're playing with different guys and it just took me about 10 minutes I said 'all right this guy, I think he belongs at Duke.'" (4:18)
Scheyer further elaborated that Kon Knueppel's toughness and feel for the game impressed him the most. Now that he has coached him for some months, he added that Knueppel also has a high-level skillset.
Kon Knueppel's parents have an illustrious college background
Kon Knueppel comes to Duke as the winner of the 2023-24 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball Award and senior year averages of 25.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 5.3 dimes.
He also quickly made his name across the nation as he led Wisconsin Lutheran to the state championship as a senior, mounting a 30-0 record. As he averaged just 10.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 2.2 apg in his freshman year, his improvement was a surprise for many.
His dad, Kon, is a hall of fame alumnus at Wisconsin Lutheran College and the program’s all-time scoring record until 2019. His mother, Chari, is still the scoring leader for Wisconsin-Green Bay and has her #33 retired.