The Duke assistant has been the subject of conflicting reports since Sunday
Duke assistant coach Jon Scheyer was thought by some to be in the mix for the Pitt job as recently as Monday, but those rumors have been put to rest.
After some initial chatter on social media, the first notable outlet to pass along the rumor was Barstool Sports, which claimed that Scheyer had been offered the position. However, that was quickly refuted by Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who said that any reports the Duke assistant had been offered the job were “emphatically and absolutely not true.”
OK here is what I can confirm. Any reports suggesting Jon Scheyer has been offered the Pitt head coaching job are emphatically and absolutely not true. Could Pitt potentially talk to him at some point? Who knows but this stuff about him being offered the job is just not true.
— Paul Zeise (@PaulZeise) March 26, 2018
Matthew Steinbrink of Panther-Lair.com corroborated Zeise’s report, noting that he had independently confirmed that there was “no such offer on the table” as of Sunday night.
Rumors linking Scheyer to Pitt flared up again on Monday, when Mike Vukovcan of Pittsburgh Sports Now reported that the Duke alum would be interviewing for the job that day. However, Gary Parrish of CBS Sports reported an hour later that Scheyer was “not a candidate at Pitt.”
Barstool Sports, the satirical sports blog that gave credence to the initial rumors regarding Scheyer and Pitt, notes in its terms of use that information from the website and its contributors “may or may not be true and should not be taken or interpreted as fact.”
As for Scheyer, he is 30 years old and has been serving as an assistant at Duke for four years. Prior to that, he started 108 games as a guard for the Blue Devils over a four-year collegiate playing career. He has no head coaching experience but is familiar with the ACC after spending eight years at Duke. He’s also had a hand in recruiting and has ties to the Midwest.
Reaction to the emergence of his name in Pitt’s coaching search was mixed, as some believed he lacks the requisite experience to coach, let alone to oversee the expansive rebuild Pitt is facing. Others considered his youth a positive quality and responded favorably to the news.
As of Tuesday, Pitt has been searching for a replacement for former head men’s basketball coach Kevin Stallings for 19 days.
