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The Jewish Sport Report: What Duke coach Jon Scheyer means to the school’s Jewish community
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Good morning, Jewish Sport Report readers!
March is truly a sports fan’s dream: Pretty much every sport is either in season or in the exciting part of its offseason, and we have March Madness and the World Baseball Classic as added bonuses.
More on both of those exciting tournaments below.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer is a source of pride for the school’s Jewish community
Left: Duke University men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer lights the Duke Chabad’s Hanukkah menorah in 2022. (Courtesy Rabbi Nossen Fellig) Right: Scheyer stands with his predecessor, Mike Krzyzewski, inside Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium. (Courtesy Duke Men’s Basketball Team)
Duke University is a No. 5 seed in March Madness this year, and has a serious shot at making a run for the NCAA title.
That’s thanks, in part, to head coach Jon Scheyer, who in his first season coaching his alma mater led the Blue Devils to a 26-8 record, becoming the most successful first-year coach in the school’s history. Duke also just won the ACC tournament.
For the campus’ Jewish community, Scheyer — who as a player once went by the nickname “Jewish Jordan” — is a source of pride.
“Coach Scheyer is such a role model to me, being a young Jewish man myself with aspiring hopes and dreams in basketball,” said Dylan Geller, a student manager of the team. “Seeing him do it so successfully, he’s definitely been a big inspiration.”
We spoke to Jewish students, faculty and staff at Duke about their famous head coach.
Halftime report
CAN WE NOT? Students at an elite school in Istanbul, Turkey, performed the Nazi salute during a soccer game against Turkey’s only Jewish school this week. Turkish Jewish leaders say they are taking action.
TO EACH THEIR OWN. New Ottawa Senator Jakob Chychrun has a very, let’s say unique, diet, including raw liver and beef heart. Hey, whatever works. He explained his lifestyle in an interview this week.
RED CARD. The BBC briefly suspended its top soccer host, Gary Lineker, for comparing Britain’s immigration policy to the Holocaust. Many of Lineker’s colleagues protested the decision, while others criticized his analogy. More on the drama here.
Some final thoughts on the World Baseball Classic
Garrett Stubbs, Ryan Lavarnway and Noah Mendlinger played for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic. (Courtesy)
I’m back after an exhilarating trip to Miami for the World Baseball Classic, where Team Israel competed against some of the world’s top teams.
The results weren’t necessarily pretty for Israel — the men in blue and white went 1-3 with two 10-0 mercy rule losses with a combined one hit. But there were certainly some highlights — from Orthodox phenom Jacob Steinmetz’s gutsy performance against the Dominican Republic to an impressive come-from-behind victory against Nicaragua.
Before we close the book on the 2023 WBC, here’s a full recap of our coverage. As always, thanks for reading.
Israel played a total of six games in Florida: an 11-5 exhibition game loss against the Miami Marlins, a 9-0 exhibition game win over the Washington Nationals, a 3-1 comeback win against Nicaragua, a 10-0 hitless loss to Puerto Rico, a 10-0 loss to the Dominican Republic (i.e. The Jacob Steinmetz Game) and a 5-1 loss to Venezuela.
Off the field, Israel held a ceremony with the Dominican team to promote friendship between the two countries and emphasize their shared commitment to standing up to hate.
We spoke to a number of Team Israel fans who traveled to Miami from near and far to cheer the team on. “It’s part of our heritage,” one fan told me.
We offered a deep-dive into Team Israel’s recruitment process and how it put together the most talented roster Israel has ever had.
And in case you missed it, I hosted a fun event about Jews and baseball with a panel of Jewish baseball experts, reporters and former players. You can watch the video here.
Oh, and stay tuned for one final piece — on the charming Israel Baseball Twitter account, that kept the hits coming even when the players struck out.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN BASEBALL…
Rowdy Tellez’s Team Mexico has advanced to the WBC quarter finals, where it will face Puerto Rico, tonight at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. Over in Spring Training land, Atlanta Braves prospect Jared Shuster and Baltimore Orioles/Team Israel pitcher Dean Kremer are both on the mound for their teams this afternoon.
IN BASKETBALL…
Jon Scheyer’s Duke men’s basketball team will face No. 4 Tennessee tomorrow at 2:40 p.m. ET on CBS in the Round of 32. And Auburn University, led by Jewish coach Bruce Pearl, takes on No. 1 Houston tomorrow night at 7:10 p.m. on TBS. Abby Meyers’ No. 2 Maryland plays its first game this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. ET against No. 15 Holy Cross on ESPNews.
IN RACING…
Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll looks to follow-up his strong start to the Formula One season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Enjoy March Madness, and we’ll see you next week.
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: What Duke coach Jon Scheyer means to the school’s Jewish community appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Trump Urged Zelensky to Cut a Deal with Putin or Risk Facing Destruction, FT Reports
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) over lunch in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
US President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept Russia’s terms for ending the war between Russia and Ukraine in a White House meeting on Friday, warning that President Vladimir Putin threatened to “destroy” Ukraine if it didn’t comply, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
During the meeting, Trump insisted Zelensky surrender the entire eastern Donbas region to Russia, repeatedly echoing talking points the Russian president had made in their call a day earlier, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Ukraine ultimately managed to swing Trump back to endorsing a freeze of the current front lines, the FT said. Trump said after the meeting that the two sides should stop the war at the battle line; Zelensky said that was an important point.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the FT report.
Zelensky arrived at the White House on Friday looking for weapons to keep fighting his country’s war, but met an American president who appeared more intent on brokering a peace deal.
In Thursday’s call with Trump, Putin had offered some small areas of the two southern frontline regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in exchange for the much larger parts of the Donbas now under Ukrainian control, the FT report added.
That is less than his original 2024 demand for Kyiv to cede the entirety of Donbas plus Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south, an area of nearly 20,000 square km.
Zelensky’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside business hours on whether Trump had pressured Zelensky to accept peace on Russia’s terms.
Trump and Putin agreed on Thursday to hold a second summit on the war in Ukraine within the next two weeks, provisionally in Budapest, following an August 15 meeting in Alaska that failed to produce a breakthrough.
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Israel Identifies Sonthaya Oakkharasri as Returned Deceased Hostage from Hamas
Sonthaya Oakkharasri. Photo: Courtesy via i24 News.
i24 News – The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Sunday that the additional deceased abductee returned by Hamas has been identified as Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai citizen who was 30 years old at the time of his death.
Following a thorough identification process conducted by the National Center for Forensic Medicine, in coordination with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate, IDF representatives informed the Oakkharasri family that their loved one has been returned to Israel and formally identified.
According to intelligence and available information, Sonthaya Oakkharasri was abducted from the Kibbutz Be’eri orchards on October 7, 2023, and was subsequently murdered by the Hamas terrorist organization.
His body was taken to the Gaza Strip and pronounced dead on May 16, 2024.
The IDF expressed its deep condolences to the Oakkharasri family and reaffirmed its ongoing efforts to secure the return of all deceased abductees. Officials emphasized that Hamas is obligated to fulfill its part of the agreement and return the remaining bodies to their families for proper burial.
The Government of Israel also conveyed its sorrow, extending condolences to the Oakkharasri family, the Thai people, and all families of fallen abductees. Israeli authorities reiterated their commitment to working tirelessly to ensure that every fallen abductee is returned, stating: “We will not compromise on this and will spare no effort until we return all of the fallen abductees, down to the last one.”
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Two Soldiers Killed by Terror Operatives in IDF-Controlled Southern Gaza’s Rafah City, Violating Ceasefire
Yaniv Kula (left), and Itay Yavetz (right). Photo: IDF
i24 News – Two IDF soldiers were killed in Sunday morning’s attack by Palestinian terror operatives in southern Gaza’s Rafah, within the IDF-controlled Yellow Line.
The fallen soldiers are named Maj. Yaniv Kula, 26 (left), and Staff Sgt. Itay Yavetz, 21 (right).
Both served in the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion and are from the central Israeli city of Modiin.
According to an initial IDF investigation, a cell of terror operatives emerged from a tunnel in the area and fired RPGs at an excavation vehicle, killing the two soldiers.
In response to the attack, the Israeli Air Force and ground troops immediately carried out strikes in the area. Later, the IDF carried out a wave of airstrikes in southern Gaza, including against a tunnel system previously used by Hamas to hold hostages.
The IDF said, following Hamas ceasefire violations, it struck dozens of Hamas targets over the past few hours with over 120 munitions. Targets included six kilometers of underground terrorist infrastructure, firing posts and weapons storage facilities.
Additionally, the Israel political echelon has decided to stop the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in light of Hamas’s ongoing ceasefire violations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially named Israel’s ongoing conflict with Hamas “The War of Redemption,” saying it marks the nation’s resurgence following the October 7 attacks and two years of fighting in Gaza.