FORTUNATE: Scheyer's parents get to go to games

DURHAM

Laury Scheyer didn't want to think about her son's last game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"You want me to start crying now?" she said late last month when asked about her son Jon's final home game for the Duke Blue Devils.

Scheyer and fellow seniors Brian Zoubek, Lance Thomas and Jordan Davidson will close out their home careers tonight when Duke plays North Carolina. And Senior Night could be emotional for Laury and Jim Scheyer, who haven't missed many games during their son's career.

"I've missed a few games, but not many, and Laury won't go to Maryland," said Jim Scheyer, who owns one of the largest picture-frame companies in the world.

The Scheyers estimate that they've missed maybe five of their son's 134 career games, and Jon said that his parents' presence in the stands has been a comfort.

"I'm really lucky to have that because it's not easy to get to every game with traveling and things like that," Scheyer said. "I appreciate that, and I always tell them thanks for coming to all my games because it means a lot."

Jon is the youngest of Jim and Laury Scheyer's three children. That allowed them the opportunity to buy a condominium here before Jon's freshman season and move from their home in suburban Chicago to spend basketball seasons in Durham.

"He's our youngest, so we don't have any more kids at home, so we can do this," Laury said. "We've been here with him through the good times and the bad, but we just feel so fortunate to be able to share this as a family."

Scheyer, one of the favorites for the ACC's player-of-the-year award, has a routine he follows when he knows his parents are in the crowd.

"I always get eye contact with my mom before the game just to make sure they are there," he said. "I just always like to know, and it gives me confidence to know they are there."

After Scheyer left for college, and his mother no longer had to care for him, she filled the void with a puppy, bought when the Scheyers first moved south. Over the past four years, the poodle has flown back and forth between Durham and Chicago.

"My mom, since I was a young kid, was always taking my friends in to take care of them or whatever, and that's her nature, so after I left for college she got a dog," Scheyer said. "It's a little poodle, but it doesn't look like a poodle. The dog is her new favorite because I'm not her baby anymore."

Jim Scheyer realizes that he and his wife have been fortunate to be able follow their son's career so closely and knows that the success of his company, MCS Industries, has played a big part. The company dates to 1903, when Jim Scheyer's great grandfather started Decorel in New York City.

"We've been lucky to do this, that's for sure," Jim Scheyer said.

Scheyer's career has been marked by continued improvement, in his scoring, his defense and his all-around game. Coming out of Glenbrook High, he had a reputation as a scorer (he ranks fourth all-time in Illinois prep history with 3,034 points).

Now, he's much more than that.

"Jon's had a great career at Duke, and his senior year has been his best year," Coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Scheyer has scored 1,914 points to rank 15th in school history, just behind Grant Hill. If Duke can make an extended NCAA Tournament run, Scheyer could break into the top 10.

Bob Harris, the longtime radio voice of the Blue Devils, said that Scheyer doesn't draw the same venom from opposing fans that other Blue Devils have drawn.

"He doesn't have that where the opposing fans despise him," Harris said. "I guess one thing is he's not as emotional as guys like J.J. (Redick) or even Greg (Paulus). Jon just kinds of goes about his business."

Scheyer's parents agree with Harris, saying Jon never has shown much emotion during games.

"I don't think he's demonstrative, and I think he's just a good teammate and goes about his business," Laury said. "He wants to win, and he's just never in anybody's face or anything like that so maybe that's why. I just think it's great the way he acts on the court and doesn't show off or show anybody up. He just plays, and he's always been like that."

Jim Scheyer says that the last four years have gone by quickly.

"We're just so proud of him, and looking back at it, no matter what he does next in life, it's going to be pretty hard to have this kind of excitement," Jim Scheyer said. "I hope he just looks around (tonight), takes it all in and just plays like he always has."

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