Tag: Coach K

Duke finalizing agreement to take on Kansas in Las Vegas for neutral site game, per Jon Rothstein

Duke and Kansas are finalizing an agreement for a non-conference matchup in November.

Duke’s already challenging non-conference schedule for 2024 is about to get even more difficult.

Jon Scheyer and his soon-to-be-revamped Blue Devils team will take on another college basketball blue blood in Kansas this November.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, one of college basketball’s biggest insiders, confirmed that the two legendary programs are in the process of finalizing a November matchup in Las Vegas.

No official announcement is imminent, and a date and time have yet to be decided upon, but things are in motion behind the scenes.

The last time these two titans faced off was in the Champions Classic in 2022, Jon Scheyer’s first season as Duke’s head coach following the departure of Coach K. Kansas went on to win that game 69-64 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The Jayhawks finished the game on a 15-5 run over the final 4:37. In total, Duke is 8-6 all-time against the Jayhawks.

Bill Self will bring a revamped roster as he looks to improve upon a less-than-stellar season by Kansas standards. The Jayhawks made the Sweet 16, but they were often injured and didn’t have the depth necessary to compete.

The Jayhawks have been aggressive and active in the transfer portal, landing new names like AJ Storr, Zeke Mayo, and Michael Ajayi for their roster. They also are returning Hunter Dickinson and Dajuan Harris.

If the two schools reach a final agreement, Duke will play Arizona, Kentucky, and Kansas as part of its non-conference schedule in 2024.

Paolo Banchero makes trip to deliver Gatorade NPOY award to Duke signee and projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg

Cooper Flagg joins prestigious club as he was named Gatorade National Player of the Year, and Duke great Paolo Banchero was there to give him the trophy.

The Brotherhood is genuine. People may not believe it, but Duke’s basketball brotherhood is authentic, and at this point, Duke has infiltrated basketball at all levels.

Former Blue Devil Paolo Banchero is in the midst of his second NBA season, and it’s been an exceptional year. He was named an All-Star for the first time and he’s led his Orlando Magic team into the playoff picture with a 42-29 record.

Before his days as the face of the Magic franchise, he spent a tremendous year in Durham as the face of Duke’s program during Coach K’s last season as head coach of the Blue Devils. While Duke came up short, losing to UNC in the Final Four, Banchero brought Duke to the national semifinals for the first time since 2015.

The mesmerizing, do-it-all power forward averaged 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds as the focal point of their offensive attack. So it only makes sense that Banchero would pass that torch to the next do-it-all forward with a chance to be a No. 1 NBA draft pick.

Duke signee, the Class of 2024’s top overall recruit, and projected No. 1 draft pick in the 2025 NBA draft Cooper Flagg was named Gatorade Player of the Year on Wednesday, and Banchero was there to deliver the good news and the trophy to him.

It’s a full circle moment for Flagg, who grew up a Duke fan and is now months away from heading to Durham to write his chapter in the same way Banchero did.

Flagg, who was also named the Naismith High School Boys’ Player of the Year, led the No.1-ranked Montverde Academy to a 30-0 regular season record.

Like Banchero, Flagg is a dynamic forward capable of doing anything on the floor. The two differ mainly in the scoring department, where Banchero probably had a little more diversity in his ability to score the ball. Still, Flagg can pass, shoot, and dribble, and he is a better defender than Banchero was at this stage of his career.

Either way, Duke’s 2025 season will center on the newly minted Gatorade National Player of the Year’s ability to dominate on the basketball court. A Final Four trip like Banchero’s would be an incredible accomplishment for his likely one-year college career.

Jeremy Roach’s career at Cameron Indoor Stadium in photos

Take a trip down memory lane with the best photos from Jeremy Roach’s four-year career at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Few Duke players have been as integral to Duke’s recent history as Jeremy Roach.

The senior guard and the last remaining starter from the Mike Krzyzewski era was honored during senior night on Saturday, his last home game wearing a Blue Devils jersey.

The 6-foot-2 Virginia native helped lead Duke to a Final Four appearance two seasons ago, and in his final year, he’s shooting 44.2% from beyond the arc and averaging 14.3 points per game.

He finished his final regular season with 1,408 career points, 35th on Duke’s all-time scoring list with a full postseason ahead of him.

Take a trip down memory lane with the best photos from Roach’s career at Cameron Indoor Stadium, where he shared a locker room with some of the most recognizable figures in the program while becoming one himself.

New head coach, same Duke Blue Devils

Thoughts on Duke’s antics from Saturday night, including the student section throwing drinks at UNC’s players?

The No. 7 North Carolina Tar Heels edged the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils, 84-79, Saturday night, sweeping the season series between the two rivals and clinching the regular season ACC crown.

The on-court story was UNC guard Cormac Ryan, who dropped 31 points on 8 of 12 shooting and 6 of 8 from 3.

The off-the-court story: Mike Krzyzewski may have retired a few years ago, but the Duke program hasn’t changed a bit.

Why?

Saturday night’s rivalry contest saw the classic, stereotypical Duke behavior return. First, star forward Kyle Filipowski — the center of the court-storming debate of a few weeks ago — blatantly tripped a North Carolina player on his way back up the court. Second, the Duke student section showered North Carolina players with various drinks while the team was celebrating its win.

Remember, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas wanted students fined and arrested for even stepping on the court — all of that because Filipowski found himself in the middle of a court storm.

Part of it felt like a veiled defense of Duke. Who Bilas tried to argue is unfairly treated with constant court stormings and general criticism.

Well, now you have yet another Duke star trying to trip an opponent. And a student section that’s more unruly than most others in the sport.

Wisconsin fans are still unhappy with Coach K and Duke for the 2015 national championship game. It should be noted that even in his retirement, the program hasn’t changed a bit.

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Coach K attends North Carolina game, Roach’s senior night

Five-time national champion Mike Krzyzewski showed up at Cameron on Saturday to support both Duke’s efforts against rival UNC and seniors like Jeremy Roach in their final home game.

What game between Duke and North Carolina would be complete without Coach K?

Legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, who led Duke to five national titles across his four decades in Durham, sat courtside in Cameron Indoor once more on Saturday night.

Obviously, he was there to support his former team against their bitter rival, but given Saturday was the final game of the regular season, it doubled as senior night for Blue Devils like Jeremy Roach, who started his Duke career playing for Coach K.

The longtime Duke head coach hasn’t been a stranger since his retirement two years ago when he led the team to the Final Four in his last season, coming to support former star and current head coach Jon Scheyer a handful of times.

Roach embraced his former coach and Krzyzewski’s wife as he was honored before the game.

Roach is the final Duke player who started during the Krzyzewski era, bringing Coach K’s four-decade tenure to a final completion.

Jon Scheyer becomes fastest Duke coach to 50 wins

With Saturday’s blowout win over Virginia on home court, Jon Scheyer became the fastest Duke coach to reach 50 career wins.

Saturday’s blowout win over Virginia provided many positives for the Blue Devils. It kept them within reach of the ACC regular-season title. It gave them their first win over a tournament-caliber team without Caleb Foster.

The biggest milestone, however, was reached by head coach Jon Scheyer, who became the fastest Duke head coach to reach 50 career wins.

Scheyer only needed 65 games to reach the milestone, with a 50-15 record during his two years with the Blue Devils thus far. He led Duke to a 27-9 record a year ago, and his team is 23-6 so far this year.

For comparison, legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski had a record of 27-30 through his first two seasons. It took Coach K 98 games to record his 50th win as Duke’s head coach.

The win over the Cavaliers also improved Duke’s home record to 31-2 under Scheyer’s two-year run.

Wisconsin basketball social media reacts to viral post about refs in 2015 national championship

What is your memory of the last 10 minutes of Wisconsin’s National Championship loss to Duke?

There must be some Wisconsin basketball fans who still think about the final 10 minutes of the 2015 national championship and what could have been — or arguably what should have been.

I must admit it isn’t an everyday thought in my head. But there are moments when something sparks the memory of Grayson Allen suddenly remembering how to play basketball and single-handedly powering Duke to the title.

Related: Wisconsin basketball social media reacts to the arena evacuation, Wisconsin’s loss to Indiana

Single-handedly in terms of being the only player. Not, of course, neglecting how the second half was officiated.

Thanks to @JayCuda on X, we were reminded again Wednesday afternoon of what took place in the last 10 minutes of the title loss to Duke.

As everybody remembers, the foul discrepancy was alarming:

This post on X has 146 comments, 361 reposts, 3 1/2 thousand likes and more than 1.2 million views.

Nobody needs an article to re-litigate every foul call and why the game suddenly turned. It’s a memory I try my best to block out.

But when the raw numbers were again presented, Wisconsin basketball fans on X all had a similar reaction:

One final legendary Pac-12 moment: Tara VanDerveer becomes all-time basketball wins leader

Tara VanDerveer of Stanford passed Coach K with 1,203 wins, the most Division I wins for any basketball coach, ever.

The Pac-12 is a dying conference. In the next college sports cycle, several current Pac-12 schools will be in the Big Ten Conference. Others will go to the Big 12. Oregon State and Washington State, technically Pac-12 schools, will play Mountain West opponents in football and West Coast Conference opponents in basketball. There isn’t much time left for Pac-12 schools, teams, coaches, and athletes to achieve Pac-12 milestones. One Stanford legend notched a big feat before Stanford leaves for the ACC in several months. Tara VanDerveer now stands alone.

VanDerveer scored her 1,203rd career Division I victory on Sunday afternoon when Stanford beat Oregon State, 65-56. VanDerveer passed Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski — Coach K — for the top spot on the all-time Division I basketball wins list.

VanDerveer has won three national championships at Stanford and reached 14 Final Fours. At the age of 70, she now has an achievement reflective of the marriage of her longevity and excellence.

Notable about this win: Stanford won without injured star Cameron Brink, who got hurt Friday against Oregon. VanDerveer had to make adjustments for this game and get an altered lineup ready to play against a good Oregon State team which is likely to make the NCAA Tournament.

In her record-breaking win, VanDerveer reminded everyone how great she is, a fitting tribute to a coach who has dotted her Is, crossed her Ts, minded her Ps and Qs, and who has now eclipsed Coach K.

Thankfully, the Pac-12 — not the ACC — was able to fully claim this special college basketball milestone at Stanford.

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The Bear fans are so mad at all the Coach K love and book references in Season 2

College hoops fans are NOT happy about this.

WARNING: LIGHT SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 OF THE BEAR HERE! ONLY READ IF YOU’VE SEEN IT!

Ready?

OK.

Yes, you read that right (in case you haven’t watched the very thrilling Season 2 of The Bear): Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is part of the plot.

… Tangentially.

Chef Cydney Adamu is trying to be a good leader in this season as she and Carmy Berzatto launch a new fine-dining establishment, so she’s reading Coach K’s Leading With The Heart. And while, in my mind, reading a book written by one of the greatest coaches of all time seems like a great idea, college hoops fans weren’t as happy (he was born in Chicago, for what it’s worth!):

Twitter reacts to Dean Smith and Roy Williams’ placement in top 10 ranking

Twitter reacts to Dean Smith and Roy Williams placement in the top ten college basketball coaches of all-time.

Twitter was in a frenzy Monday night after the NCAA March Madness account released its top 10 college basketball coaches of all time.

Instead of using a human to create the list, it turned to artificial intelligence, using the popular growing ChatGPT to generate the rankings. Unsurprisingly, this caused quite a reaction, with fans debating the placement of some of the coaches featured on the list.

UNC is the only school with two coaches in the top 10. Dean Smith is ranked fourth and Roy Williams sixth. The only other coach from the ACC is Mike Krzyzewski, who ranked second. UCLA’s John Wooden claimed the top spot.

Many argued whether Bob Knight was over Williams, while others wondered how Tom Izzo cracked the list, but Bill Self didn’t. The list caused quite a discussion as fans gave their opinion on the AI-generated list.

Let’s see how Twitter reacted to the top 10 college basketball coaches all-time ranking.