Basketball back in style

Krzyzewski returns to Duke seeking another gold-medal performance

DURHAM -- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski walked into his first news conference of the 2008-09 basketball season without a crown on his head or a team of bodyguards following in his wake.

Krzyzewski was changed by his experience coaching the U.S. basketball team to Olympic gold at the Beijing Olympics in August, but he isn't different.

Asked if he took a victory lap, at any point, to celebrate, Krzyzewski joked, "You saw me at 3 in the morning, didn't you? Moonwalking on the beach waving pompoms? In the cheerleader outfit?"

Krzyzewski immediately reconnected with his Duke team and the recruiting trail when he returned from China eight weeks ago.

Before he left for Olympic training in late July, his 2008-09 team came to his home the night before he left. When he returned to Durham, his Duke team was there that night to greet him.

"We just got down to doing what we're supposed to be doing," Krzyzewski said before opening Duke's first practice to the public on Friday, "not so much work as something exciting working with kids."

Duke will hold its annual Blue-White Game today at 1 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The last three weeks, Krzyzewski also was able to get away to refocus for the college season. Duke was 28-6 overall and 13-3 in the ACC while reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

"Not so much to get away to rest, but to get away to get balance and give some thinking and creative time to what we're doing," he said.

Krzyzewski and Jamie Spatola, his youngest daughter, are co-authoring a second book together, this time about Krzyzewski's Olympic experience. It's called "The Gold Standard."

"That's been good because we're talking about basketball and team-building," he said.

Krzyzewski's first priority getting off the plane from Beijing was to immerse himself back into the recruiting wars. Though it was possible that Krzyzewski and assistant head coaches Steve Wojciechowski and Chris Collins could have lost ground while in China and rookie assistant Nate James was handling things back in the U.S., they did not.

Nor did Duke get an Olympic bump in recruiting, Krzyzewski said.

Within the last three weeks, Duke did secure a 2009 commitment when Ryan Kelly chose Duke last week and 2010 commitments from Tyler Thornton and Josh Hairston. Mason Plumlee, a 2009 recruit and brother to current Blue Devils freshman Miles Plumlee, chose Duke earlier this year.

"Some people looked superficially at it and said we got commitments right after the Olympics, and 'Boy, it really resonated,' " Krzyzewski said. "My feeling is we would have gotten those kids anyway and not because of the Olympics. Now that may help in the future."

Krzyzewski looked for ways that the Olympic experience would enrich his Duke coaching, even while his attention was diverted from one or the other the past three years.

The 61-year-old Krzyzewski, who officially began in his 29th Duke season and 34th collegiate season Friday, had wrestled the past two seasons with the idea that his teams were forced to live up to and answer for more successful, more beloved Duke teams of the past.

"People have tough things happen to them in their lives, so we [at Duke] should be able to handle success," Krzyzewski said. "I need to teach sustaining success better than I've been able to teach it, especially last season ... so if we're fortunate enough to make the NCAA Tournament, it doesn't become an opponent."

Krzyzewski smiled and joked throughout Friday's chat with the local media, looking capable of serving another 10 years at the Duke helm.

"If we had lost [in Beijing], there would have been a deep resuscitation," Krzyzewski said. "No. I'm really actually unbelievably good where I'm at right now. I'm happy and very excited to get going."