Forty-two seasons, 1,430 games, five national championships and 12 Final Four appearances.
Legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s resume speaks for itself. Of all the coaches who shaped this game, perhaps only UCLA’s John Wooden can claim more success and a greater impact on the sport as a whole.
We’ve known this was Coach K’s last year in Durham since the offseason, but on Saturday, it got very real as he took the court — which bears his name — at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the final time.
He did so surrounded by a tunnel of former Duke stars, a perfectly fitting sendoff for a man who has been the face of college basketball for the better part of four decades. It’s also perfectly fitting that his last game at the Blue Devils’ home arena came against their most bitter rival in North Carolina.
It was a special scene, to say the least.
Coach K is welcomed by his former players and a big roar from the Cameron Indoor crowd 🙌
(via @ByPatForde) pic.twitter.com/K3rWQwrFJ3
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 5, 2022
Tons of Coach K’a former players come out of the tunnel and onto the court pic.twitter.com/13DvuzHQ4M
— Duke Basketball (@dukebasketball) March 5, 2022
It was also clearly an emotional moment for Krzyzewski, who has been entering the court in that building as the head coach since 1980.
Taking it all in. One last time.#CoachK pic.twitter.com/o1bWlnROW8
— ESPN (@espn) March 5, 2022
It will certainly be bizarre when current assistant coach Jon Scheyer takes the reigns next season and leads this team into Cameron Indoor, instead. But the book hasn’t closed on Coach K’s tenure just yet.
His Blue Devils squad entered the regular-season finale at 26-4 with the best record in the ACC at 16-3. Duke is all but guaranteed a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament, which begins in two weeks, and Coach K will look to add one last piece of hardware as a parting gift to the Cameron Crazies.
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