As Mike Krzyzewski makes the rounds one last time in the ACC, Duke’s Hall of Fame coach tries not to get nostalgic.
“You lose some mind space as you get old,” the 74-year-old said. “There’s only so much room, so you’ve got to focus on (the present).”
No. 7 Duke handled Clemson on Thursday to win Krzyzewski’s final game coaching inside Littlejohn Arena. But just before walking out of a place he’s been bringing his teams for more than 40 years for the final time, Krzyzewski admitted there’s one Littlejohn memory that sticks out.
That was less than a decade into Krzyzewski’s tenure at Duke when the Blue Devils squared off against Cliff Ellis’ Tigers in a top-15 matchup on Jan. 24 1987. With Tommy Amaker, Danny Ferry and Billy King headlining Duke’s roster and the frontcourt tandem of Horace Grant and Elden Campbell suiting up for Clemson, both sides had their share of star power.
At 6-foot-11 and 6-10, respectively, Campbell and Grant were of particular concern for Krzyzewski and his assistant coaches.
“We’re warming up, and they have Elden Campbell and all these 6-10, 6-11 guys,” Krzyzewski recalled. “And I look at my staff, and I say, ‘All right, you’re in a playground and you don’t know anything about these two teams. Who are you going to pick? I’m going to pick those guys.’”
Krzyzewksi’s team didn’t have an answer that night for Grant, who poured in 33 points. But 19 Clemson turnovers helped the Blue Devils rally from a 13-point deficit in the second half and force overtime on a 3-pointer from Amaker that hit the front of the rim, bounced high off the backboard and fell through the hoop.
Duke outscored Clemson 13-11 in extra time to pull out a 105-103 win, snapping the Tigers’ 17-game winning streak at the time.
“We had this hellacious game, and Tommy threw a shot that hit about 18 things up there and went in,” Krzyzewski said. “And we won.”
Krzyzewski, who will retire at the end of the season as the all-time winningest coach in Division I basketball, went 22-12 in games played at Littlejohn Coliseum during his 42 seasons as Duke’s coach. Thursday’s win was just Duke’s second in its last five trips to Clemson.
“We’ve got our butt beat here, too,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s all good.”
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