Duke basketball announces home-and-home series with Arizona

On3 imageby:Jonathan Wagner07/18/22

Jonathan Wagner

The Duke Blue Devils are going to look different on the hardwood next season, as Jon Scheyer is taking over as the program’s new head coach following the retirement of Mike Krzyzewski. Now, Duke is making additions to its schedule. Duke announced on Monday that the Blue Devils have added a home-and-home with Arizona.

The home-and-home between Duke and Arizona will begin next season, with the Wildcats traveling to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Nov. 10, 2023. Arizona will then host the Blue Devils on Nov. 21, 2024.

Duke went 32-7 overall last season, including a 16-4 mark against ACC opponents. The Blue Devils went on a magical run to the Final Four before falling to UNC with a trip to the title game on the line. Arizona finished the year 33-4 overall and 18-2 against Pac-12 opponents. The Wildcats lost in the Sweet 16 to Houston.

Duke-Arizona will be an intriguing matchup in the first year of the post-Coach K era

Returning to the Final Four will be no easy task for Duke, but that’s the case every year. The Blue Devils will be under the guidance of a first-year head coach in Jon Scheyer, though he has been able to learn under one of the greatest coaches in the history of sports over recent years.

In the most recent Bracketology released by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Duke was listed as a No. 3 seed in the projected NCAA Tournament field. The Blue Devils will have to play extremely well to reach that point, but Scheyer might just be able to lead them there right away.

He’ll also have the help of Krzyzewski if he needs it.

“We have an unbelievable relationship. We spent the entire year having talks. Not just about what that team was doing but what I was thinking at that time. Just a lot of impromptu talks,” said Krzyzewski. “My feeling is just to give him the space he needs to run his program.”