Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has been named one of 10 finalists for the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award presented annually to the top first-time head coach in Division I basketball.
In his debut season on the Blue Devils’ bench, Scheyer has led Duke to 23 wins – a program record for a first-year coach – and became the first first-year coach in ACC history to lead a team to an undefeated home season.
The Blue Devils (23-8) are the No. 4-seed in the ACC Tournament thanks to their 14-6 (.700) conference mark as Scheyer became just the fifth first-year coach in ACC history to be .700 or better in league play and just the 19th all-time to be .500 or better.
Under Scheyer, Duke overcame a regular season disrupted by injuries to find its groove over the final month heading into the postseason. The Blue Devils carry a season-long six-game winning streak into the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Greensboro on Thursday. It is just the eighth such win streak of six games or longer to end a regular season in Duke’s ACC era (since 1953-54).
For Scheyer’s first season, Duke returned just one significant rotation player – starting guard Jeremy Roach – from a 2021-22 season that saw Duke capture the ACC regular-season title and reach the Final Four. In 2022-23, Duke claimed its ACC-leading 15th top-five league finish in the last 16 years and 37th in the last 40.
Duke went 16-0 at home, was 7-2 overall in games decided by five points or fewer and 6-1 in games decided by four or fewer.
A longtime Kentucky assistant, Joe B. Hall was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp at the school. In his first season, Hall finished 20-8, won the SEC and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals. Hall coached the Wildcats from 1972 to 1985, received four SEC Coach of the Year honors and won a National Championship in 1978.
The recipient of the 2023 award will be announced in March, in Houston – site of the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship. Former Blue Devil Greg Paulus won the award in 2020 in his first season at Niagara.
2022-23 Joe B. Hall Award Finalists
Tobin Anderson – Fairleigh Dickinson
Chris Caputo – George Washington
Eric Duft – Weber State
Corey Gipson – Northwestern State
Michael Lewis – Ball State
Chris Markwood — Maine
Daniyal Robinson – Cleveland State
Jon Scheyer – Duke
Jerome Tang – Kansas State
Keith Urgo – Fordham
