Arizona's Lloyd, Duke's Scheyer agree: Wildcats vs. Blue Devils 'great for the sport'

When he looks at Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, Duke coach Jon Scheyer can see a little bit of himself.

Both head coaches moved into coaching within just a few years of finishing their college careers, both rose to become top assistants at college basketball powerhouses, and both took over top programs at relatively young ages.

“There’s some similarities in our paths,” Scheyer says.

Except there’s a couple of big differences: Lloyd left Gonzaga to take over Arizona in 2021, while Scheyer just scooted over one chair at Duke after Mike Krzyzewski retired in 2021.

There’s also this: While Lloyd had joined Gonzaga’s staff 2000-01 as an administrative aide, Scheyer was still a middle-school kid from the Chicago area who attended the NCAA championship game that season in Minneapolis ... while sitting in an Arizona cheering section.

“Duke had the better team, by the way. Shane Battier all the way,” Scheyer said to chuckles at his pregame news conference Friday, referring to the former Blue Devil star and Duke’s 82-72 win over UA. “But I had a connection to (former UA standout forward) Michael Wright. He was from Chicago, I watched him play in high school, and I was fortunate to get tickets to the game through him.”

Scheyer had no way of knowing it at the time, but the experience partially propelled him years later to agree with Lloyd on a home-and-home series between Duke and Arizona that will begin Friday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Sitting in those Metrodome seats, Scheyer experienced the passion of Arizona fans and, a few years later, considered stepping fully into the Wildcats’ universe.

“I remember being at that game and wanting to play games like that — and then Lute Olson recruited me,” Scheyer said. “Arizona was one of my final three schools. So personally I have a lot of respect for Arizona, the program that they have, and Tommy.

“They’ve done it for a long time and so have we. So for me, it made sense when you’re looking for a partner to do a true home-and-home with. It felt right to do it with these guys.”

Scheyer’s perspective helps explain why Lloyd, despite saying how difficult it is to schedule top teams for home-and-homes, said this one was an “easy process.” The two grew to know each other during their parallel rides up the coaching latter, clinching the deal.

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“I respect him,” Lloyd said. “What he stepped into is pretty impressive at a young age. I think he’s doing an admirable job, and I think he’s going to have a great coaching career.”

But for two hours Friday, their relationship will be put on hold. Neither one figures to have it easy.

While Lloyd spoke about the matchup during a postgame news conference Monday, saying it will be an “epic early season matchup,” Scheyer expounded on it during a half-hour long news conference in Durham, North Carolina.

Scheyer said he and Lloyd both would prefer to have a few games played before facing each other — as they will next season, when Duke won’t arrive at McKale Center until Nov. 21 — but that Friday was the date that worked best for both teams this season.

Besides, the early game is one of the highlights in an opening week of college basketball that mostly has ranked teams facing mid- or low-major opponents.

“I think teams should be incentivized to do it, too,” Scheyer said. “It’s great for the sport. It’s great for their program and our program and also for college basketball.”

But just playing each other, no matter when the date, is a victory for both Scheyer and Lloyd. Scheyer noted that a typical 31-game schedule can get eaten up quickly between 20 conference games, two neutral site events and a three-game multiteam event.

All that “limits the games you can play and then not knowing your roster this early in the year — I don’t want to call it risky, but it’s bold,” Scheyer said. “Both programs, we’re gonna learn a lot (Friday) night, and that’s why we want to do it. The experience, the competition was worth it for our group.

“And our guys want to play games like this. That’s what it comes down to for me. I’m going to make a decision based on what our players like.

“I’m sure Tommy would say something similar. But from my standpoint and for our guys, I just think there’s more upside than there is downside.”