Jon Scheyer Explains Unique Duke Basketball Trip to West Point

The 2025-26 Duke basketball squad, Jon Scheyer's fourth collection as head coach, is now 2-0 following Saturday's 95-54 win over the visiting unranked Western Carolina Catamounts in what was the No. 6-ranked Blue Devils first home game of the regular season. Now, they'll prepare for their first true road test, a clash against the unranked Army Black Knights on Veterans Day.

In his press conference following the victory over the Catamounts, Scheyer talked about the significance of the upcoming trip.

The 38-year-old, already a two-time ACC Tournament champion and Final Four participant while at the helm of the blueblood program, pointed out what it means to honor those who have served the country, what it means for his group to play in an opponent's arena this early in the season, and of course, what it means to his predecessor at Duke in Army graduate and former Black Knights head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Duke basketball — Nov 12, 2021; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski prior to a game against the Army Black Knights at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images | Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Scheyer's Thoughts

"It means a lot," Scheyer noted about the road bout in Army's 5,034-seat Christl Arena. "We started to have conversations for this game about two and a half years ago. And there's a couple parts to it, obviously. To honor all our veterans, on Veterans Day, that's a special thing to be playing at West Point for that reason.

But then also, to honor Coach K. He’ll come on the trip with us, and it'll be strange being on a flight with him. I don't know if he'll be watching film or not. Maybe my first time on a flight with him where he's not watching film. Or he won't be watching film. Who knows?

"To share this with him, to share this experience with our players, and then obviously, to play a road game, right away, I think will be a great, great thing. A ton of respect for Army and their coaching staff, their team, and I'm looking forward to it."

Duke basketball is 9-0 versus Army since 1996. The programs faced each other around this time last year, a 100-58 victory by the Cooper Flagg & Co. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

All but one of those nine meetings took place in Durham. The other, a 78-45 win by the 1997-98 Blue Devils, was in West Point.

The Blue Devils and Black Knights (1-0, 0-0 Patriot League) will square off at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday (CBS Sports).

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