Did Jon Scheyer play in the NBA? How Duke head coach's playing career came to an end

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Duke's NCAA Tournament run is already underway with the Blue Devils dismantling Oral Roberts in the Round of 64.

Head coach Jon Scheyer is ushering in a new era as the great Mike Krzyzewski's successor, and Duke is off and running under its new leader. Scheyer led the Blue Devils to the ACC Tournament Championship in his inaugural season, becoming the first person in conference history to win an ACC title as both a player and a coach.

Scheyer was the ACC Tournament MVP for Duke in 2009. He was an NCAA champion and an All-American. But did the Blue Devils' new head coach ever play in the NBA? The Sporting News takes a deeper dive into his playing career below.

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Did Jon Scheyer ever play in the NBA?

Despite being one of the NCAA's best guards, leading Duke to a national championship in 2010, Scheyer was not selected in the 2010 NBA Draft.

He signed on to play for the Miami Heat's Las Vegas Summer League team, where his NBA career got off to a strong start.

In Scheyer's first Summer League game, he displayed the same steadying hand he had for the Blue Devils, knocking down a game-winning 3-pointer to defeat the New Orleans Hornets.

In his second Summer League game, Scheyer suffered a freak injury that hindered his NBA hopes moving forward. In a matchup with the Golden State Warriors, Scheyer was accidentally poked in the eye by Australian forward Joe Ingles. 

Jon Scheyer eye injury

The New York Times reported in 2011 Scheyer's eye injury was described as "one in a million" by doctors.

He was diagnosed with a lacerated eyelid, a torn retina, a damaged optic nerve and swelling inside his eye. He needed surgery to repair his retina.

“I couldn’t look left, I couldn’t look right. I had to keep my head still and look straight ahead and hope it healed,” Scheyer said in the New York Times article. “The optic nerve controls the message from the brain to the eye. If the message doesn’t get through, you can’t see.”

Jon Scheyer D League career

In 2011, after recovering from his eye injury, Scheyer joined the Houston Rockets' D-League affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers midway through their season.

Scheyer played in 16 regular season games, averaging 13.8 points, 4.1 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.

The Vipers qualified for the playoffs, where Scheyer helped lead his team to the D-League Finals. He averaged 11.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the postseason, but the Vipers fell to the Iowa Energy (Bulls/Suns affiliate) in three games in the championship round.

Jon Scheyer international pro career

Following his first D-League season, Scheyer signed a two-year deal to play for the EuroLeague's Maccabi Tel Aviv. He only played one season in Israel before signing with Gran Canaria of Liga ACB.

In 2014, he brought his playing days to an end when he joined Duke's Men's Basketball staff as a special assistant to Coach K. He remained on the Duke staff until he was promoted when Coach K announced his retirement.

Author(s)
Kyle Irving Photo

Kyle Irving is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News.