NEWARK, N.J. — Before the handshake line, before the cutting of the nets, before the hats and T-shirts, Cooper Flagg found his way to Jon Scheyer at the bench. The final seconds ticked off as they embraced, the player and coach who first envisioned this journey together.

Anything less than a Final Four would have been a failure. The bar was set here, at the very least. Flagg’s one season of college basketball will end on the biggest stage in the sport. And Scheyer continues to escape the considerable shadow of his predecessor.

The path up the ladder after Duke’s 85-65 win over Alabama was set into motion years in advance, starting with the elevation of Scheyer to replace Mike Krzyzewski and continuing with the lessons he learned from falling short in the NCAA Tournament his first two seasons.

And then: The successful recruitment of a generational player in Flagg and the rest of the freshman class. The deliberate offseason roster turnover to put the right players around them, playing the transfer portal, incoming and outgoing, like a pipe organ.

The succession from Krzyzewski to Scheyer has been an evolution, not a revolution. What happened in Newark on Saturday was carefully planned, considered and, eventually, executed, all with the intention of being in San Antonio in the first week of April.

Even the sudden departure of Jai Lucas for Miami, the assistant coach who played such a vital role in all of it, couldn’t slow Duke’s procession to an ACC championship, to an 18th Final Four. Nor could Alabama, although the Crimson Tide gave it a shot until a late 13-0 Duke run put the game away.

Unable to replicate Thursday’s record-setting shooting performance, Alabama still pushed Duke throughout, never losing contact with the Blue Devils even as Duke never trailed. Nothing was easy. When Flagg went up to put Grant Nelson on a poster early in the second half, Nelson stonewalled him in midair, sending both crashing to the floor.

Forty-eight hours after Flagg outdueled Caleb Love to beat Arizona, he looked worn out, not quite his usual explosive self. His shooting — an unusual-for-his-standards 6 for 16 — reflected that, but it was more a lack of the change of pace with the dribble that so often catches defenders off guard. Then again, it’s a measure of his talent that even at less than his best he still flirted with a double-double and finished with 16 points. Everything’s relative.

But just as when Flagg was in foul trouble against Louisville and North Carolina, or missing entirely during the ACC Tournament, Duke was built to be more than just its star.

Kon Knueppel carried the load offensively. Khaman Maluach dunked a lot. Tyrese Proctor got to the rim. Caleb Foster contributed quality minutes. Sion James led the defensive effort against Mark Sears, who hit 10 3-pointers Thursday and was 2 for 12 against Duke.

That was the plan all along.

Given how Scheyer’s first two seasons ended — outmuscled by Tennessee in 2023, upset by N.C. State in 2024 — and the expectations attached to Flagg’s one season in college, this team faced as much pressure to get this far as Zion Williamson and Co., or Krzyzewski’s final team.

The regional-final loss to Michigan State in 2019 put an asterisk on one of the most meteoric freshman seasons in modern college basketball; Duke assured none would be attached to Flagg’s. There’s at least one more game to play, and it will be against either Houston or Tennessee in the Alamodome.

Scheyer becomes the fourth Duke coach to take his team to the Final Four, joining Vic Bubas, Bill Foster and that other guy.

Scheyer played for Krzyzewski, then assumed the unenviable assignment of replacing the greatest to ever do it. If he was ever in Krzyzewski’s shadow, he isn’t now.

This was his team, his players, his program. His plan.

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