Coach K shares emotions after being honored by Louisville basketball and Denny Crum
Still quick to bristle when this Duke basketball season is called his farewell tour, Mike Krzyzewski nevertheless grew emotional and even let his focus dip ever so quickly into his post-coaching life during his final visit to Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center on Saturday.
Before the No. 9 Blue Devils won 74-65 over the Cardinals, Louisville honored Krzyzewski’s career during a pregame ceremony.
The school had Louisville Slugger carve out a customized bat for Krzyzewski, complete with his signature and Duke logo.
Another Kentucky institution, Maker’s Mark distillery, prepared a bottle of its bourbon for Krzyzewski adorned in Duke’s blue and white colors with Krzyzewski’s image on the glass.
Both were presented to an appreciative Krzyzewski during a ceremony prior to the starting lineups Saturday.
But it was who presented them that turned Krzyzewski emotional.
Denny Crum, Louisville’s retired Hall of Fame coach, joined Krzyzewski at midcourt. Back in 1986, the first of Krzyzewski’s 12 Final Four teams at Duke played Crum’s Cardinals in the NCAA final.
Louisville won, 72-69, in Dallas to claim the national championship, the second of the two titles the Cardinals won during Crum’s tenure from 1971-2001.
“You could not have honored me in a higher manner than to have Denny,” Krzyzewski said in thanking Louisville for the gifts after the game. “I’m getting emotional. One of the true icons of the game and someone I’ve admired my entire life.”
Krzyzewski hugged the 84-year-old Crum twice during the pregame ceremony.
“During that moment, you know, I focused on Denny Crum,” Krzyzewski said. “And I wasn’t thinking about former games. I was thinking of his excellence, and his impact on the game. Literally, he’s one of the iconic coaches in the history of our game.”
Since losing that national title game to Crum and Louisville, Krzyzewski’s won five NCAA championships at Duke. A couple weeks shy of his 75th birthday, Krzyzewski will retire from coaching at the end of this season.
Ceremonies and gifts like Louisville presented are part of the deal when Duke goes on the road this season, even as Krzyzewski insists he’s focused on this year’s Blue Devils and their success.
On Jan. 18, Florida State held a pregame ceremony to announce its coach, Leonard Hamilton, was making a contribution to Durham’s Emily Krzyzewski Center in honor of Krzyzewski’s final season. As the spectators gave Krzyzewski a standing ovation, an announcement was made encouraging them to make their own donation.
At Louisville, where a crowd of 18,493 packed the arena Saturday, another standing ovation followed the pregame ceremony.
Following Duke’s win, Krzyzewski shared his feelings on the event and Duke’s win. A reporter referred to this season as his “farewell tour” and he retorted, “It’s not a tour, man. I’m just trying to win our next ACC game. This tour stuff, we had 40 people with COVID in a three-week period. That was not a tour.”
But a few seconds later, Krzyzewski let his guard down ever so slightly.
In discussing freshman AJ Griffin and his game-high 22 points, Krzyzewski pointed out that Griffin is a young freshman who just turned 18 a few months ago.
“In September, right?” Krzyzewski asked Griffin, who had joined him on the dais.
“August,” Griffin corrected him.
“August, I’m sorry,” Krzyzewski said. “I’ll remember next year. When I’m on the beach.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2022 at 6:32 PM.