Jon Scheyer's UConn Challenge Still Crushing Titles as Elite Rivals Aim for Thrashing
Very few ACC coaches have ever done what Jon Scheyer is doing.
Mar 14, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer cuts down the net after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers in the men's ACC Conference Tournament Championship at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images In some respects what they achieved was unique to the times and circumstances, yet in an essential sense entirely the same. And, in any sense, historic in a manner that cannot be minimized.
Only Everett Case, whose uptempo NC State teams did more than any others to immediately establish the ACC as a basketball conference of note, won in his first three ACC Tournaments (1954-56). Case’s Wolfpack won four of the new conference’s first six title-defining tournaments, triumphing again in 1959. In those days, the ACC Tournament was winner take all, as each league got a single NCAA bid.
Now, seven decades later, Duke’s Jon Scheyer is following in Case’s footsteps. Sort of. Case was working with a few advantages.
The league tournament was played in its first 13 years at Reynolds Coliseum, State’s home court. Few ACC schools invested significant resources into fielding a competitive basketball program. Case coached high school ball in Indiana for 23 years before joining NC State.