Jon Scheyer also said it was valuable watching his team, ranked No. 4 in last week’s AP Top 25, beat SMU 89-62 from a different perspective.

The SMU game is the first game Scheyer, who is in his third season as Duke’s head coach, missed since taking over the program following Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement in 2022. He never missed a game during his Duke playing career from 2006-10, when he appeared in 144 games.

The "bizarre experience" of watching Duke basketball on TV made Jon Scheyer feel like a movie character. Here's what he said about his absence.