Tag: Mike Krzyzewski

Duke basketball game against Arizona on Friday night officially sold out

The Arizona Wildcats announced their Friday night game against Duke basketball is sold out.

The Duke Blue Devils will play Arizona in the Wildcats’ home stadium on Friday night, and they’ll take the court at McKale Memorial Center in front of a packed crowd.

According to a photo from the Blue Devils official team account on Friday afternoon, the Wildcats declared the game sold out nine full hours before tipoff.

Both teams hope to come back from a loss in their most recent game against prominent opponents. Arizona lost a 103-88 game to the Wisconsin Badgers last week after John Tonje scored 41 points, making four of his six 3-point attempts and 21 of his 22 free throws.

Duke, on the other hand, gave up a nine-point halftime lead against the Kentucky Wildcats in Atlanta last Tuesday. Superstar freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], still just 17 years old, scored 12 of the team’s last 14 points to finish with a game-high 26, but two turnovers on the last two possessions set up the winning free throws on the other end.

The Blue Devils will also face former North Carolina Tar Heels star Caleb Love for the ninth time. Love, who transferred to Arizona ahead of the 2023-24 season, most notably scored 28 points when UNC beat the Blue Devils in the Final Four three seasons ago, ending legendary coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag]’s career. He’s won five of the previous eight battles with Duke, averaging 16.9 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.8 steals in those contests.

How has Caleb Love played against the Duke Blue Devils across his career?

With one last battle against Caleb Love on the horizon, how has the former UNC star played against Duke in eight career games?

The Duke Blue Devils get one final chance at comeuppance against one of their most prominent rivals on Friday night. While the Arizona Wildcats are a worthy adversary, all of the attention in Durham will be focused on taking down former North Carolina Tar Heels guard Caleb Love.

Love spent three seasons with UNC before he transferred to Tucson ahead of the 2023-24 season, and he’s been a thorn in the Cameron Crazies’ side for years.

He played the villain in two of the biggest games in program history in 2022, scoring 22 points to defeat legendary coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag] in his final home game before notching 28 points in a Final Four victory over the Blue Devils just one month later. He returned to Cameron Indoor Stadium with his new school last November and once again emerged with a win, as he’s done in five of his eight career games against the Blue Devils.

Love averaged 16.9 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.8 steals in those games, but if Duke basketball fans want a silver lining, he’s been remarkably inefficient in those outings. He’s made just 11 of his 46 attempts (23.9%) from distance over the last seven meetings, and he’s shot a measly 29/84 (34.5%) from the floor in the last six. With the fifth-year senior shooting 35.1% this season and making just 26.3% of his 3-pointers, there’s little reason to think that trend changes on Friday.

No regular-season victory can erase the torment Love exacted on the Blue Devils a few years ago, but it would be undeniably sweet to end the rivalry with one last win.

LeBron James shares his interesting Duke basketball dream on social media

Turns out, everyone in basketball dreams about playing in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Even NBA legend LeBron James.

There’s not much LeBron James hasn’t done in the world of basketball.

The four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA MVP became the first player in league history with 40,000 career points near the end of last season, but since he got drafted straight out of high school, James never played for a college team. According to a Sunday social media post, however, it’s something he’s thought about before.

James shared a post on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) detailing his dream about playing for five-time national champion [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag].

“Just woke up from having a dream I was playing for Duke for Coach K inside Cameron Indoor Stadium!” James wrote. “It was INSANE in there. Told Coach K it was an honor to suit up for him and he said the same thing back to me. He’s such a LEGEND!”

James did play for Coach K at the Olympics in the past, winning gold in 2008 and 2012 with the legendary Duke coach.

James’ dream also took an interesting turn in the second half of his post, saying that Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre began performing a concert in the iconic Duke basketball arena.

“The roof inside Cameron damn near came off!” James said.

Dan Lanning called a timeout so Oregon could watch Michigan fans empty out the stadium

Oregon’s Dan Lanning was inspired by Coach K for this idea.

Oregon Ducks football coach Dan Lanning had a plan heading into Saturday’s game against the Michigan Wolverines.

As the undefeated Ducks prepared to face off against the defending national champions earlier in the week, Lanning told his players about something he wanted to do when they played in Ann Arbor at Michigan Stadium.

In a “Ducks vs. Them” recap video of the victory, fans saw Lanning call a timeout in the fourth quarter so that he could remind them about this idea.

In that video, Lanning is seen telling his players that he told them about “this moment” on Monday. Then, it cut directly to some behind-the-scene footage of a team meeting a few days prior.

During this session, Lanning showed a video of legendary former Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski discussing road victories and what it feels like to watch home fans silenced and leaving early.

Krzyzewski discussed how he would call timeouts to have his players just look into the stands and watch them go home because those are the moments that the student athletes will always remember. Here is more from Lanning:

“I already told you in the beginning of the week. I’m going to remind you at some point in this game. I’m going to tell you to look up at the stands at some point in this game. And you’re going to start to see them empty out. We’ve made the decision before we even stepped on the field.”

When the recap flashed back to the actual game, you could see players wondering where the Michigan fans went. It clearly inspired the roster and everyone seemed excited

This was such a cool idea perfectly executed by the Oregon coach, who currently leads a team ranked No. 1 in the nation.

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College basketball award renamed after legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski

The National Association of Basketball Coaches announced on Monday that it would rename an award after five-time national champion Coach K.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches announced on Monday that the NABC Metropolitan Award would now be known as the NABC Mike Krzyzewski Award in honor of the five-time national champion.

“The newly-renamed NABC Mike Krzyzewski Award will continue to recognize basketball coaches and contributors for long and outstanding service to the game,” the association said in a release about the change.

The award was first given out in 1941, and Krzyzewski won it in 2009. He added two more national titles to his resume after the achievement, including one with current head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] in 2010.

ESPN announcer Dick Vitale won the award in 2024, and notable coaches like Tom Izzo (2019), John Calipari (2018), and former North Carolina Tar Heels coach Roy Willaims (2014) have been honored in the past decade.

The longtime Duke basketball coach retired following the 2021-22 season after leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four 13 times, including one last appearance in his final season. He finished with a 1,129-309 record during his 42 seasons in Durham, winning the ACC regular-season title 13 times and winning the conference tournament 15 times.

Coach K also won the NABC Coach of the Year award twice, first in 1991 after he brought Duke its first national championship before being honored again in 1999.

Coach K and Bobby Hurley reunite at Cameron Indoor Stadium ahead of exhibition game

Ahead of a Sunday exhibition between Duke and Arizona State, Coach K and Bobby Hurley shared the Cameron Indoor Stadium court again.

Two architects of Duke’s first national championships shared the floor at Cameron Indoor Stadium again on Saturday evening.

Legendary men’s basketball coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag], who won five national championships during his four decades in Durham, and former Blue Devils point guard [autotag]Bobby Hurley[/autotag] spent some time together on the famed court ahead of a Duke exhibition against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Rodd Baxley of The Fayetteville Observer caught their initial embrace on video.

Hurley, now the head coach of the Sun Devils, helped lead the Blue Devils to consecutive titles in 1991 and 1992. He finished his collegiate career with 1,076 assists, an ACC record that stands to this day, and he’s responsible for four of the five seasons in program history with at least seven assists per game (Dick Groat averaged 7.6 in 1952).

Arizona State hired Hurley ahead of the 2015-16 season, and in the nine years since, the program has put together four 20-win seasons and reached the NCAA Tournament three times.

The Blue Devils, now led by Jon Scheyer (who also won a championship with Krzyzewski in 2010), will face Hurley and Arizona State in an exhibition game on Sunday evening. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., and fans can watch the game on ACC Network.

Virginia’s Tony Bennett, coach of Notre Dame ACC rival, retires

Big story in college basketball.

Notre Dame has part of the ACC for over a decade now, and it has gone against some legendary coaches during that time. While Virginia’s Tony Bennett doesn’t have quite the reputation of legends like Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim or Roy Williams, he has done a great job of building his own legacy.

When the Irish visit Charlottesville on Jan. 25 this season, the Cavaliers will look very different on the sidelines because Bennett reportedly has announced his retirement effective immediately. That this is happening less than a month before the start of the season is nothing short of surprising.

The Irish have gone 3-13 against Virginia since joining the ACC, and Bennett’s tenure with the Cavailers’ predates that period. But even before that, the Irish learned how good Bennett was when he coached Washington State to a 61-41 win over them in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

Bennett retires having won one national championship, two national coach of the year awards, six ACC regular-season championships, two ACC Tournament championships and four ACC Coach of the Year awards. He has an all-time record of 433-169:

https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1847009701877461379

Best of luck to Bennett in whatever comes next in his life.

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Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Jon Scheyer includes Coach K on his college basketball coaching Mount Rushmore

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer filled out his coaching Mount Rushmore on Wednesday, and he obviously included Mike Krzyzewski.

When Duke coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] was asked to fill out his Mount Rushmore of college basketball coaches on Wednesday, the first name that came to mind should be pretty obvious.

“First one’s easy for me,” Scheyer said. “Coach K. He’s there, no question about it.”

[autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag] coached the Blue Devils from 1980-2022, winning five national championships and reaching the Final Four a record-setting 13 times along the way. He took Duke to the national semifinals seven times in nine years from 1986-94, including five consecutive trips from 1988 through 1992, and he won his first two national championships back-to-back in 1991 and 1992.

Scheyer worked under Krzyzewski for almost a decade before he took over the program, starting as an assistant coach in 2014 before being promoted to associate head coach in 2018. He even won a national championship for Coach K as a player in 2010.

Scheyer rounded out his four names with legendary UCLA Bruins coach John Wooden (who won 10 national championships between 1964-75), longtime Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, and Georgetown legend John Thompson.

https://twitter.com/accmbb/status/1844133910919381484

Duke basketball freshman grew up rooting for the Blue Devils and shares childhood story

Duke basketball freshman Darren Harris, who grew up cheering for the Duke Blue Devils, shared a childhood memory involving Coach K Court.

Six freshman faces help make up the 2024-25 Duke men’s basketball roster, but for several of them, the Blue Devils have been part of their lives for a long time.

Darren Harris, a four-star sharpshooter from St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Virginia, said he grew up a Duke fan his entire life. He even shared a story from when he was in elementary school during Friday’s team media day to detail how much the program meant to him.

“It was K Academy, I was in fourth grade I think, and my family snuck in because the door was open, and I took a picture at the Coach K Court piece right there,” Harris said.

Duke honored legendary head coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag] by branding the floor of Cameron Indoor Stadium as ‘Coach K Court’ during the 2000-01 season. The longtime Blue Devils coach retired in 2022 with 13 Final Four appearances, the most in NCAA history, and five national championships.

“It was a dream of mine to come here,” Harris concluded. “So it kind of made the decision easy.”

Harris could contribute in a big way this season as well. CBS Sports reporter Jon Rothstein said the first-year Blue Devil shot exceptionally well from distance during a practice he watched earlier this week, and Harris showed off that microwave ability on offense with a 36-point game against IMG Academy during Chipotle Nationals.

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer wants to start a series with UConn

According to a Monday report, Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer has an idea for a future campus series with the Connecticut Huskies.

The Duke Blue Devils and Connecticut Huskies have played each other more on the football field than the basketball court over the past few years, but Duke head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] wouldn’t mind changing that trend.

According to a Monday report from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, Scheyer is “open to starting a series” with the two-time defending national champions.

Duke and UConn have combined to win 11 national championships since 1991, including six of the past 14 titles, but the two have never played each other in their own stadiums.

Duke has a 5-4 all-time record against UConn with wins in the last two matchups. The schools haven’t faced off since December 2014 when legendary head coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag] captained his team to a 66-56 victory on a neutral court. Tyus Jones led the team with 21 points in that game, and the Blue Devils won the most recent of their five championships at the end of that season.

The Blue Devils football team has also beaten Connecticut on the football field in each of the past two seasons, including a 26-21 comeback win on Saturday.