Devil's Advocate: Jon Scheyer Is the Most Underrated Player in America

Welcome to "Devil's Advocate," my weekly Duke Basketball column.  Each week, I'll take on a common argument or criticism against Duke used by analysts and/or Duke haters. You may not agree with my opinion, but I'm just playing Devil's Advocate.

Duke's Jon Scheyer may be a player most recognized for the bizarre facial expressions he makes multiple times each game (just browse through some AP photos of Jon Scheyer and witness the phenomenon that is the Scheyerface), but he is actually a very good basketball player.

Good enough to score 36 points against Gardner-Webb while shooting 7-for-9 from beyond the arc, 7-for-7 from the free throw line, and logging nine assists and eight rebounds.

Let's find a new word for good when describing Scheyer—it's a bit of an understatement.

Before the season started, the biggest question mark surrounding the Blue Devils was their lack of a point guard, with Scheyer being the likely (but not ideal) choice to run Duke's offense.

Coming into the Blue Devil's game against Gardner-Webb on Tuesday night, Scheyer averaged 15.8 points per game and, get this, an 8.4-to-1 turnover to assist ratio.

That seems like a pretty ideal stat line for an elite point guard.

The truth of the matter is that Scheyer is one of the best, and one of the least talked about, players in the nation.

And it's not like his play this season is a fluke.

Scheyer will be just the ninth player in Duke history (just take a few moments and think about all of the great players to wear a Blue Devil uniform) to average double figures in scoring in all four of his seasons.

And while much has been made of his ability to take care of the ball this season, he averaged only 1.4 turnovers per game in his three previous seasons combined.  That's unheard of for a guard who has averaged over 30 minutes a game over his career.

Last season, he came away with the ACC tournament MVP award—just imagine how much money you would have won if would have you put money down on Scheyer winning that over guys like Ty Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough, Toney Douglas, or Gerald Henderson.

Scheyer also came away with the MVP honors as he led the Blue Devils to NIT Season Tip Off title.

In fact, Scheyer's play has been so good that he's currently a top candidate for ACC Player of the Year.  If the voting took place today, he would likely get more votes than his own teammate Kyle Singler, the ACC Preseason Player of the Year. 

He may be a player that has flown under the radar throughout his career, despite consistent play, but with the way he's started his senior season, his days of flying under the radar are over.

Scheyer might be one of the nation's most underrated players, but he's definitely one of the nation's best.