Scheyer's final four college choices were
Arizona,
Duke,
Illinois, and
Wisconsin. On the one hand, his connection with Illinois was strengthened by the fact that his high school coach was Illinois coach
Bruce Weber's brother. Working in favor of Duke, however, was the fact that its assistant coach
Chris Collins had also attended Glenbrook North. He also believed that playing for the Blue Devils provided him with the best chance of playing in the Final Four. He ultimately chose to attend Duke, where he majored in history. He led all freshmen in the ACC with an .846 free throw percentage, and was eighth in the ACC in minutes per game (33.7). He scored 27 points at
Miami on February 20, 2008, matching the most points by a player off the bench in Duke history. His free throw percentage (.889) was 2nd in the ACC for the season, 12th in the nation, and 5th-best in school history. He averaged 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He scored a then-career-high 30 points against
Wake Forest on February 22, 2009. As a point guard, he averaged 19.7 points and 2.5 assists per game, and committed 1 turnover a game.
Florida State Seminoles men's basketball coach
Leonard Hamilton said he thought Scheyer had a "calming" influence on the team's offense. Scheyer was 7th in the ACC in free throw percentage (.841) for the season, 8th in minutes per game (32.8), tied for 8th in steals per game (1.6) and three-point field goals made per game (2.1), and 18th in points per game (14.9). He was named the MVP of the 2009 ACC Tournament after scoring 29 points in the championship game. Krzyzewski said after the season: "He's a great competitor. He handles the ball real well. He scores—he scored more when he was bringing the ball up than when he didn't bring the ball up. I think the more the ball is in Jon's hands, the better."
Senior season (2009–2010) Scheyer was again named captain along with
Lance Thomas. Commenting on his play, Coach Krzyzewski said: "He understands, which most kids, believe me, do not, the value of the ball. He makes really good decisions with the ball, whether it's a pass, a shot, or the time on the clock." And: "Some of the plays he makes—you might not think he's that fast, but he has great body control." On December 2, 2009, he became the first Duke player to record 1,400 points, 400 rebounds, 250 assists, 200 3-point field goals, and 150 steals for a career. On December 16, he scored 24 of a career-high 36 points in the first half to lead Duke past
Gardner-Webb. He shot 11-of-13 and hit a career-best seven 3-pointers while grabbing eight rebounds and getting nine assists. Scheyer made a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left to seal a win for Duke over
Georgia Tech for the ACC championship on March 14, 2010. With 2:37 remaining, Scheyer hit a 3-pointer to put Duke ahead 67–61. The Blue Devils won as he finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. In Duke's Final Four win over
West Virginia, he led the team with 23 points while shooting 5 for 9 from 3-point range, with 6 assists, no turnovers, and 2 steals. Duke won the national championship with a 61–59 victory over
Butler, as Scheyer scored 5 of the team's last 10 points. Scheyer had 15 points in the win, and led the team with 5 assists. He became the second player to win an Illinois high school state championship and an NCAA Division I championship, the other having been
Quinn Buckner, who won state titles at
Thornridge High School in 1971 and 1972, and then was a champion with
Indiana in 1976.
Sports Illustrated featured Scheyer on the cover of their April 12, 2010, issue. Scheyer signed with Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports prior to the NBA draft. Scheyer missed the
NBA Draft Combine in late May and lost 10 pounds as he battled
mononucleosis, which had him out for approximately three weeks and also forced him to miss his graduation. In June, he participated in pre-draft workouts for ten teams. Scheyer went undrafted in the
2010 NBA draft.
Records and statistics Scheyer set the ACC all-time single-season record for minutes played in 2009–10 (with 1,470, passing
Dennis Scott). In the 2009–10 season, he also led the ACC in assist/turnover ratio (3.0; 2nd-best in Duke history to
Steve Wojciechowski in 1997), free throw percentage (.878; 7th-best in Duke history), and 3-point FGs made (2.8 per game). He also tied for 2nd in games with 20 or more points (17), and was 3rd in scoring (18.2 points per game), 4th in assists (4.9 per game) and 3-point FG percentage (.383), and 7th in steals (1.6 per game). For the season, he has also led the nation in assist/turnover ratio. Freshman guard
Andre Dawkins said: "Jon's the glue. He takes the big shots." He is the only player in Duke history to record at least 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists, 250 3-pointers, and 200 steals in a career.
Accolades for the 2009 – 2010 season These are accolades. See the college awards section below for the awards that he won. • Mid-season candidate for the 2010
Naismith Trophy • Second in voting for the ACC Player of the Year Award, to
Maryland's Greivis Vasquez. • NABC Senior Achievement Award. •
Jewish Sports Review Division 1 All-America team. the
John R. Wooden Award, the 2010
Oscar Robertson Trophy. Each national player of the year award went to
Ohio State's
Evan Turner. ==Professional career==