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For the third-consecutive season, Coach Jon Scheyer has led the Duke Blue Devils to a March Madness Elite Eight berth. They got the job done after a close 80-75 win over the Coach Rick Pitino-led St. John's Red Storm. A wealth of players got to have time on the court in this game but there was one veteran which helped them weather the storm. Coach Scheyer could not have been more thankful for having Caleb Foster on his team.
Scheyer gets real on Foster playing in March Madness amid injury
This March Madness bout between Duke and St. John's was all about finding which X Factors would show up when they needed it. For Coach Pitino, it was all about their scoring canons. St. John's had five players score eight points or more in this game which was a real problem for the Blue Devils at one point.
Duke, on the other hand, had the advantage of veteran presence. Despite suffering a right foot injury just three weeks prior, Foster was able to suit up for his team and log on 11 points while knocking down 62.5% of his field goal attempts. Coach Scheyer saw this and had nothing but praise for the player in his junior year, via CBS Sports.
"He had no business playing today. He was determined, that was one of the most special performances I have ever seen. He was incredible, even in the huddle and some big time plays too. That's a leader right there and that's a guy who came through for us when we needed him the most," the Duke basketball head coach said with tears in his eyes.
NIL and the usual one-and-done trend has prevented Duke from getting a staple veteran in the past years. Foster is different. He has now seen greats like Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Kyle Filipowski, Jared McCain, Tyrese Proctor, Cam Boozer, Cayden Boozer, and Isaiah Evans join then have to leave their roster. Despite all of that, he has chosen to stay with the squad, play regardless of a three-week right foot injury, and will now head into his third March Madness Elite Eight.
"We don't do everything perfect but, man. These guys have got a special will. They love each other, they're connected. They believe that we're supposed to win. In the second half, it really was not much about execution. It was just about toughness and coming up with team plays. We're going to need more of that on Sunday," Coach Scheyer added.
Sacrifices need to be done in order to get a shining moment in March Madness. Foster did just that and the basketball gods might favor Duke when everything is on the line in their road to another national championship.
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