These Duke basketball players are ready for one last ride with coach Mike Krzyzewski
As if playing basketball for Duke wasn’t enough pressure, Joey Baker and Wendell Moore are bracing for the last ride under head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
On Wednesday, Coach K announced the 2021-22 season would be his last after 42 years leading the Blue Devils.
Duke home games are already a phenomenon, but the Krzyzewski farewell tour will be different. Baker, a rising senior forward from Fayetteville, compared the upcoming season to his freshman year, when he played with star Zion Williamson. Moore, a junior forward from Concord, said the same — and each game will be wild and mean they’re one step close to the end of Krzyzewski’s coaching career.
“Honestly, it just made me really excited for the season,” Baker said. “The prospect of having fans back, a normal season. We were already excited coming in, but knowing that it’s going to be coach’s last ride, we want to try and make it special.”
When Krzyzewski gathered his final team for a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, they had no idea what was coming. Krzyzewski informed the group that it would be his last team at Duke.
Baker said he was caught off guard, but was OK with his coach’s decision.
Krzyzewski joked Thursday during a press conference he doesn’t expect opposing teams to hand out rocking chairs during his final run. He’ll accept the congratulations from other coaches and fans along the way. But he’s been around this game long enough to know once the ball is thrown up, teams will want to beat Duke. That’s why he’s still watching film and told his team he wants them to attack the upcoming year just like they always have.
“I want this to be as a coach as any basketball team that I’ve had in my 41 years,” Krzyzewski said. “Whatever happens we will react to it. I want to coach my team. I want to give them 100 percent.”
Meeting a legend
Since he’ll no longer be coaching in 2022, Krzyzewski told the media Thursday he won’t recruit for that year’s class. He’ll leave that up to head-coach-in-waiting Jon Scheyer and assistants Nolan Smith and Chris Carrawell.
That leaves Baker and Moore as the last two players from North Carolina Coach K signed.
Krzyzewski stamped his legacy in the game long before Baker and Moore were being recruited. He was already a hall of fame coach with five national titles. So getting to meet the GOAT, as Duke president Vincent Price called Krzyzewski Thursday, was huge.
“Duke was always my favorite team so I grew up a huge Coach K fan,” Moore said. “So I finally got a chance to meet him, obviously I was a little star-struck. But getting to know him more, he’s really one of the most caring guys I’ve met in my life. He cares more about his players more than anything.”
Baker played high school basketball with Dennis Smith Jr., who played one season at N.C. State, but was one of the top in-state recruits in recent history. The first time Baker saw Krzyzewski in person, the veteran coach was in Fayetteville to see Smith play.
“I’m sure he didn’t know who I was,” Baker said. “Then fast forward a couple of years later I was getting recruited by them and he came to visit campus and I had a great talk with him and just felt at home here.”
The lighter side of Coach K
Baker and Moore have seen a side of Krzyzewski that most outsiders haven’t. On television during games, fans see the intense coach, lots of times with a snarl expression, laying into an official or getting after his team.
Moore recalls lighter moments, like coaching Krzyzewski up on the latest sneakers, or Coach K coming into the locker room and joking with the team.
“He comes in dancing to our music,” Moore said. “And me personally, I’m a big guy on shoes, so I’ll see him with some cool shoes on. I’ll ask him where he got them from and he goes ‘no, they are kind of exclusive,’ just things like that.”
Krzyzewski on Thursday talked about how he’s had to adjust during his coaching career, pointing out that at 74 he’s more than 50 years older than Moore. His players have taught him as much as he’s taught them, including sneaker culture and the latest sayings.
For all he’s learned from them and done for them on and off the court, the players want to make sure the farewell tour is a memorable one.
Making Coach K’s last season special
The 2020-21 season was forgettable for Duke. The Blue Devils went 13-11 and canceled their season in the middle of the ACC tournament in March due to COVID-19, just when they were heating up and trying to make the NCAA.
Getting over that was part of the reason why the current team was excited about the upcoming year. Now they have extra motivation to send Krzyzewski out on a high note.
“Now everyone is going to want to come see Coach K’s last game, or say they were there for it,” Moore said. “This season is going to be electric and we are ready for it. Hopefully, we can come out on top one last time.”
As Moore and Baker answered questions, they stood under the five national title banners. Those banners have made opponents more determined to beat Duke. Baker acknowledged that Duke always gets the best shot from opponents, and this season won’t be any different.
“We usually have large followings at games,” Baker said. “Obviously it will be a big thing, but our objective won’t change, our focus won’t change. If anything it will just add fuel to the fire when we are preparing for those games. When we are in the moment it will make us more prepared. If you guys know Coach K he’s fully focused on this year coming up. There’s not much more on his mind other than winning games.”
And Krzyzewski, last ride or not, will make sure his guys are ready.
“Once they throw the ball up they (opponents) want to beat us even more because it’s the last time,” Krzyzewski said. “As a competitor, I know that. Just don’t let it distract you.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 3:07 PM.
