Krzyzewski Coaches Final Game at Home

March 9, 2022 Tori Waschek Sports 1

By Tori Waschek

Mike Krzyzewski, Duke’s head coach since 1980, coached his final Blue Devils game at home on Saturday evening, March 5, against North Carolina. No school athletic program has sustained as much success under one coach as Duke under Coach K. 

Duke did not win the game against rival University of North Carolina, losing 94-81 however it does not change much in the history books for Coach K. 

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Final Farewell 

Before the game started Coach K took to the court, which bears his name, at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the final time by walking out through a tunnel of 96 former Duke players, all ones that he has coached in the past 42 seasons. 

  • Coach K’s retirement has been known since June 2, prior to the start of the season, but this moment made it seem very real and it was quite emotional for all those watching, and himself. 
  • Tickets to go to this game had an average price of $5,392. The most expensive ticket was going for $99,188.

 

The Legacy 

Krzyzewski, a Naismith Hall of Fame coach, has built a dynasty that few programs in the history of the game can match.

  • Coach K’s current record at Duke includes 1,196 wins. No coach in Division I men’s basketball history has won more games than Coach K. He holds the NCAA record with 15 30-win seasons.
  • Coach K has five national titles, UCLA legend John Wooden is the only men’s basketball coach who has won more NCAA championships than Coach K with a total of 10. However, Krzyzewski’s 12 Final Four appearances are tied with Wooden for most in NCAA history. 
  • Coach K holds the NCAA record for total National Player of the Year honors by one coach. He has also had 42 players be first-round NBA Draft picks, leading all coaches. 

Alicja Wesloske, a college basketball fan, shared how everybody in some way who watches basketball knows who Coach K is and the impact he has had on the game.

 

The Big Picture 

With the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and National College Athletic Association (NCAA) tournaments, there could be up to nine more games for Coach K,  but none of them will be in Durham.

  • Duke has already claimed the outright Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular-season title, the 13th ACC title under Krzyzewski, and will be the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament. 
  • Kristen Gallo, a Duke fan, said, “Obviously, a win would have been the perfect ending for Coach K’s final game at Duke. I wanted a Duke win so badly for him, but I’d rather take the loss now than in the playoffs. Hopefully this just fuels the team to win it all. If Duke gets a sixth championship this loss will mean nothing looking back.”
  • Will Gustafson, a UNC fan, said, “It was a good game to watch and I was rooting for my team the entire time. As much as I hate to admit, I would say I was sad to see him [Coach K] go because the rivalry just won’t be the same now.”

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1 Comment

  1. “The Legacy” was the most powerful section in this article — as someone who knows nothing about sports, it really helped me understand just how impressive Coach K’s career was and the impact he had. The bullet point style really helped me understand and consume this information. Had it been presented in typical paragraph style, I would have certainly lost interest pretty quickly simply because of the sheer amount of numbers. Seeing them all spaced out helped me to more easily understand what was being said and why.

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