Tag Archives: Jon Scheyer

Scheyer gets a second shot at the NBA

Members of Duke’s 2010 national championship team have slowly trickled their way into the NBA. Now, it appears it may be Jon Scheyer’s turn.

Scheyer, who nearly suffered a career-ending injury in 2010 when he tore the retina and damaged the optic nerve in his right eye, will compete for the Philadelphia 76ers in the Orlando Pro Summer League from July 9-13. The majority of the 13 members of his summer league team were undrafted as well, and will attempt to scrap their way to a training camp invite with Philadelphia or another NBA team. Just two members of the team the 76ers have fielded played for the team last season.

After going undrafted in 2010, Scheyer played for the Miami Heat in the Las Vegas Summer League before injuring his eye. Two months after his eye was surgically repaired, Scheyer was invited to training camp with the Los Angeles Clippers, but was not in top form and failed to make the roster. After taking time away from the game for his eye to heal, Scheyer appeared in 16 games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBDL, where he averaged 11.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He then spent most of 2011 in Israel competing for Maccabi Tel Aviv, though Scheyer did not see significant minutes and elected to return to the United States to pursue a possible career in the NBA.

Scheyer will report with the rest of 76ers to Orlando July 5 to begin workouts. The team will play a five-game schedule against the Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons.

Members of that 2010 national championship team have had varying success reaching the NBA. Nolan Smith was drafted in 2011 and finally made his professional debut after the lockout ended. After being selected in the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft by Pistons, Kyle Singler decided to stay in Spain for the entire year and will make his debut with Detroit next fall. Lance Thomas spent more than a year in the D-League before earning a contract with the New Orleans Hornets.

Other members of the team, such as center Brian Zoubek, who is opening a cream puff shop in New Jersey, are no longer playing basketball professionally.

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Jon Scheyer leaves Maccabi Tel Aviv

Former Duke basketball standout Jon Scheyer has left Maccabi Tel Aviv and returned to the United States, citing “personal reasons.”

Scheyer has played in seven of the team’s 16 games this season, averaging five minutes of playing time per contest.

A source told Eurobasket.com that “Jon’s leave was caused by a combination of not playing, latest rocket attacks towards Israel from the Gaza Strip and the Israeli military pressuring him to join.”

It remains unclear whether or not Scheyer will return to Israel this season. Another source told Eurobasket.com that Asefa Estudiantes, a team in the Spanish ACB, the league in which Kyle Singler currently plays, offered to buy out Scheyer. The 6-foot-5 guard was “disappointed” and “upset” by Maccabi Tel Aviv’s decision to disallow the buyout, considering he had been used only in garbage time during the early part of the season.

Duke v. North Carolina: Top 5 Cameron moments

Back in November, I gave you the five most memorable games of head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s tenure with the Blue Devils. As Duke and North Carolina prepare for their 234th meeting on the hardwood Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, let’s take a look back at some of the top moments in the rivalry’s history that have taken place here on the Blue Devils’ side of Tobacco Road.

5. February 24, 1979—DUKE 47, Carolina 40

This game gets notice for the absurdity of the 7-0 halftime score, which prompted one of the more famous quotes in the rivalry’s history. The game was Jim Spanarkel’s senior night in Durham, and in the first half North Carolina head coach Dean Smith essentially refused to play against the Spanarkel-anchored zone defense of the No. 6 Blue Devils. He ordered his team to retreat into the ‘four corners’ offense, where they proceeded to pass the ball around the perimeter for up to twelve minutes at a time in the pre-shot clock era. The shots the No. 4 Tar Heels did take in the first half didn’t even manage to hit the rim, prompting the students at Cameron Indoor Stadium to use the “AIR-BALL” chant for the first time. Things opened up in the second half with both teams scoring 40 points, but Duke coach Bill Foster couldn’t help but take a jab at Smith the next day, saying, “I thought Naismith invented basketball, not Dean Smith.”

4. March 6, 2010—DUKE 82, Carolina 50

The last time College GameDay came to Durham, the soon-to-be national champion Blue Devils treated the national audience to the largest margin of victory in the rivalry’s history. Duke’s victory was so lopsided, the No. 4 Blue Devils outscored Carolina’s total output with 53 points in the first half. The ‘Big Three’ of Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith each scored 20 or more points, and Brian Zoubek pulled down 13 rebounds in the final home game for Scheyer, Zoubek and Lance Thomas. One month later, the benches burned again.

3. February 28, 1981—DUKE 66, Carolina 65 (OT)

The first time head coach Mike Krzyzewski faced the No. 11 Tar Heels in Durham was senior night for the Blue Devils’ Gene Banks, who threw roses to the crowd during player introductions. Coming out of a timeout, down two, with two seconds remaining, Banks nailed a jumper at the top of the key to send the game to overtime. Banks then scored the game-winning layup off an offensive rebound in the closing seconds of the extra period to snatch Krzyzewski his first victory over Dean Smith and North Carolina.

2. February 4, 1961—DUKE 81, Carolina 77

Cited as the game that sparked a new level of hatred between the two schools, the No. 4 Blue Devils’ victory was overshadowed by a brawl led by Duke star Art Heyman. As the Tar Heels’ Larry Brown drove baseline, trailing by 5 in the waning seconds, and was grabbed by Heyman as he attempted to shoot. Brown immediately went after Heyman fists-first, and several other North Carolina players, including Donnie Walsh and Doug Moe, joined in. Heyman was ejected but fouled out on the play anyway, and Brown was surprisingly allowed to continue the game and shoot his free throws—though the Blue Devils held on to beat the No. 5 Tar Heels. Ultimately, the fight led to the departure of North Carolina coach Frank McGuire and the promotion of his young assistant—Dean Smith. The game was such a monumental event in the rivalry that Art Chansky spends an entire chapter on the fight and events leading up to it in his book, Blue Blood.

1. February 28, 1998—DUKE 77, Carolina 75

Steve Wojciechowski’s senior day pitted the No. 1 Blue Devils against the No. 3 Tar Heels. Freshman Elton Brand had just made a surprising return from a foot injury and scored 16 points while carrying Duke back from a 17-point deficit in the second half. The victory was Krzyzewski’s 500th as a head coach, and produced one of the most notable images in Duke Basketball history, as Wojciechowski and Krzyzewski embraced after the game.

Scheyer arrives in Israel to join Maccabi Tel Aviv

Former Blue Devil Jon Scheyer was officially introduced as the newest member of Maccabi Tel Aviv at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday.

Scheyer was joined at the Nokia Arena by co-owners Shimon Mizrahi, David Federman and Oudi Recanati, along with team manaher Gur Shelef and former Maccabi player Tal Brody.

“At Duke, we had a target on our back every day,” Scheyer said. “Expectations are high too. When you lose a game, it’s a big deal at Duke. I think that is very similar to how it is here. I am used to those expectations, and I just want to live up to them.”

Tel Aviv lost just one regular season game last season en route to its 49th league title. The Israel Basketball Super League begins play in the middle of October.

June 19, 2011: Jon Scheyer signs with Maccabi Tel Aviv

Jon Scheyer signs with Maccabi Tel Aviv

Former Duke star Jon Scheyer has signed a contract with Maccabi Elektra Tel Aviv, according to multiple news outlets.

Maccabi is one of the most successful teams in European history, winners of 49 Israeli championships and five European championships. Last season, the team made public their desire to sign Scheyer, but he declined all offers in an attempt to pursue an NBA career.

The 2010-11 season was not kind to Scheyer, though, who suffered a debilitating eye injury while playing for the Miami Heat’s summer league team. Still in rehab, he was invited to Los Angeles Clipper training camp two months later but was cut after just three weeks.

He made his healthy return in February with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League where he played in the team’s last 24 games, including eight playoff appearances. Scheyer averaged 13.8 points, 4.1 assists and 2.38 turnovers per game for the Vipers during the regular season, and shot just 34.0 percent from beyond the arc.

When The Chronicle caught up with Scheyer at the Coach K Academy two weeks ago, though, he was still committed to pursuing an NBA career.

“It’s still an option,” Scheyer said at the time about playing overseas. “But my goal has always been to play in the NBA so I think I’ll sort through it. It makes it difficult with the lockout.”

While details of the contract have not been disclosed, it was reported that Scheyer’s representatives countered Maccabi’s initial two-year, $440,000 offer with a request for $750,000 over the same period.

Scheyer offers Maccabi an opportunity to skirt the foreign player cap in the Israeli League, which states that teams can only employ four foreigners on their roster at any time. Because Scheyer is Jewish, however, he is considered Israeli under the rules.

“I wanted Jon already last season, and I’m very happy we managed to sign him,” Maccabi head coach David Blatt said in a statement. “Jon is a very talented and smart player. He is a true winner at a young age, not less importantly he is Jewish who is coming to Israel and I wish he will stay here for many more years.”

Catching up with… Jon Scheyer

During the ninth annual K Academy last week, The Chronicle had the chance to catch up with the Duke coaching staff as well as former players. Here are some highlights from what Jon Scheyer had to say, much of which was printed in The Chronicle today.

  • On the 2010 national championship team: “It was the most unselfish team, the toughest team I’ve ever been a part of. Everyone was in it for the right reasons and I think that’s very hard to find. I’m not saying there are teams where people are selfish but everyone cared about winning and I think that’s very rare…. It was such a special group to be a part of.”
  • On being reunited with Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek: “It’s great being back here. It kind of gives us a chance to reminisce. I think at the end of last year, it just got so hectic we didn’t really have a chance to just go out to dinner one night or anything. So it’s great to have an opportunity now.”
  • On his playing future: “[Overseas] is still an option, but my goal has always been to play in the NBA so I think I’ll sort through it. It makes it difficult with the lockout, but I’ll just stay ready whenever the opportunity comes. I’ll probably go to a few minicamps…. There’s been some unique challenges that I’ve had in the past year that I haven’t really had in my life. In terms of basketball, it’s kind of the first time where I don’t know where I’ll be playing next season so that’s been the toughest part for me.”
  • On his rooting interest in the NBA Finals (after Game 1): “I have a lot of respect for their organization and the way they handled everything with me through my injury. It’s tough. I’m a Nowitzki fan, I love LeBron, so it’s hard to say. I think it’s going to be a long series, I think it’s going to be really competitive.”