Old and tough vs. young and confident: Houston-Duke a stark contrast in Final Four
In a battle of two No. 1 seeds, Duke brings NBA-level talent, while Houston is armed with Texas-sized grit and toughness.
The quest in their NCAA Tournament national semifinal game the Final Four on Saturday night is for one of them to impose their enormous will on the other.
Both are accomplished squads, with Houston (34-4) riding a 17-game winning streak that’s carried it to the Big 12 title and the Midwest Regional championship. Duke (35-3) is on a 15-game winning streak, having won the ACC title and the East Regional championship.
But they are different, with Duke starting three freshmen, led by AP national player of the year Cooper Flagg. Houston is older, with two seniors and two juniors among its starting five.
There’s even contrast on the sidelines.
Houston’s coach is 69-year-old Kelvin Sampson, who needs three wins to reach 800 for his storied career. Duke’s coach is 37-year-old Jon Scheyer, who has already experienced plenty of success while going 89-21 over his first three seasons coaching the Blue Devils.
They’ve built their programs differently, both finding their way to the same spot at the Alamodome.
Scheyer, like his predecessor Mike Krzyzewski did in the last decade of his career, recruits one-and-done players who are elite talent. Sampson takes less-regarded talent and wins just as much.
“I think the strength of our program is maybe not recruiting the five-star guys that a lot of the schools that are here do,” Sampson said. “But we develop guys into five stars. We take a lot of pride in that.”
That’s the edge Houston will try to exploit against Duke.
Flagg may be the presumptive No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft and a prodigy at 18 years old, but the Cougars are confident they can slow him down.
“Yeah, he’s a great player,” Houston junior guard Milos Uzan said. “I feel like we have elite perimeter defenders, and we’re going to do a good job of showing him bodies. We’ll see what we do out there.”
At the same time, Duke junior guard Tyrese Proctor knows exactly what to expect from the physical Cougars. Proctor started last season’s NCAA Tournament South Regional semifinal game at Dallas, when the Blue Devils upset top-seeded Houston, 54-51.
This whole season the Blue Devils have prepared themselves for this challenge.
“We’ve had some of the most physical practices I’ve been a part of since we’ve been here,” Proctor said “I feel like some of them have been harder than some of the games we played. I feel like just setting the tone in practice is a big thing. If you don’t, you’re gonna lose a lot of games. So I think just understand that as a collective. And like I said, it just comes back to playing for each other and trusting one another on the defensive end.”
Scheyer is quick to compliment Houston and Sampson for putting such a strong team on the court. But he doesn’t want his Blue Devils thinking the Cougars are unbeatable. After all, he built a team with three projected top-10 draft picks in Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach, but also added veteran transfers in Sion James, Maliq Brown and Mason Gillis.
“You have to have confidence,” Scheyer said. “We’re a great offensive team. I want us to be us. In doing that, you’re going to have some moments where you may go through a stretch you don’t score. The thing that’s been consistent for us is our defense. We can’t let any offense impact our defense.
“But we’re going to be who we are. I know firsthand after playing them last year, scrimmaging them the year before, we know very well how legit their defense is and their physicality and all that. Let’s be us and let’s not be in on our heels.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2025 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Old and tough vs. young and confident: Houston-Duke a stark contrast in Final Four."