2003 Top 50 List: Not eligible
Dan Collins List: No
This one surprised me. I don’t remember thinking of Jon Scheyer as a great player while he was active. Since then, I think my brain had subconsciously lumped him in with Steve Wojciechowski and Greg Paulus. I certainly wasn’t looking for opportunities to heap further recognition on Krzyzewski-era Duke players; I’m as tired of hearing about them as anyone. But I have to follow where my methods lead; and they lead me to the conclusion that Jon Scheyer deserves to be on this list.
First of all, let’s talk about the year he had in 2010. He was the best player on the best team in the country – a national championship team, no less. He was unanimous first team All-ACC. He was runner up for ACC Player of the Year. He was a named second team All-America by all the major services. Like advanced metrics? According to kenpom, Scheyer had the third highest offensive rating in the nation in 2010 among players who used at least 20% of their team’s possessions. According to sports-reference.com, he led the nation in win shares.
OK, so he had a great year. What else did he do? Well, for one thing, he scored a lot of points. Would you believe that Scheyer ranks 32nd in ACC history in career points? He scored more career points than Shane Battier, Grant Hill, and John Lucas. He is one of just six players (the others are Johnny Dawkins, Greivis Vasquez, Danny Ferry, Bob Sura, and Julius Hodge) with 2000 points, 500 rebounds, and 400 assists. He was MVP of the ACC Tournament in 2009, when he had 29 in the final to lead Duke over Florida State.
The biggest argument against him is that he wasn’t named All-ACC, not even third team, prior to his senior year. And I admit, that’s pretty compelling. There are going to be very few guys on this list who only made All-ACC once. But I think he should have been on in 2009. Gerald Henderson made first team and Kyle Singler second team, but Scheyer was the best offensive player on the team, looking at the advanced metrics. He just didn’t score quite as many points as they did, and the leading scorers tend to be rewarded in All-ACC voting. He should have been second team. Keep in mind also that All-ACC voting happens before the ACC Tournament, which he was the MVP of, so that probably would have changed things too.
When you consider the total package – the great senior year, the national championship, the sneaky good junior year, the ACC Tournament MVP, the advanced metrics, and the impressive career totals – for me, it’s too much to ignore.