Coach K’s grandson, former Duke basketball player, pleads guilty to DWI charge
Michael Savarino, retired Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski’s grandson and a former Duke basketball player, pleaded guilty to driving while impaired Wednesday in a case stemming from a November traffic stop in rural Orange County.
Court records show the related charges of driving after consuming alcohol while under 21, as well as running a stop sign, were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Savarino completed 24 hours of community service, paid $300 in fines and court costs and is on 12 months of unsupervised probation. He has another court date on Jan. 26 in Orange County Court in Hillsborough as part of a treatment program he must complete as part of the plea deal.
Savarino’s offense fell under Level V of North Carolina’s sentencing guidelines for DWI, the least serious on the five-level scale.
The related aiding and abetting impaired driving charge former Duke basketball player Paolo Banchero faces from the same incident remains pending. The No. 1 overall pick in June’s NBA draft, Banchero now plays for the Orlando Magic.
It is normal procedure in these situations, court officials said, for the aiding and abetting DWI charge to be dismissed upon adjudication of the related DWI case. Banchero has a court appearance scheduled for Thursday.
A phone message left by The News & Observer at the office of the players’ attorney, Sam Coleman, was not immediately returned on Wednesday afternoon.
Court records show Orange County assistant district attorney Maren Hardin was the prosecuting attorney who signed off on the plea agreement.
Savarino announced in April he would complete his Duke degree this summer and transfer to another school to complete his college basketball career. He has since announced he’ll play at New York University.
Following a season in which he was named All-ACC and a second-team All-American while leading Duke to the Final Four, the 6-10 Banchero entered his name in the NBA draft.
The criminal charges against the two stemmed from a situation where Savarino, who was 20 years old at the time, told police he’d been drinking after he was stopped while driving a vehicle registered to Banchero.
At 1:10 a.m. on Nov. 14, according to court documents, N.C. Highway Patrol stopped Savarino after he was observed rolling through a stop sign in a 2017 Jeep SUV at the intersection of Bushy Cook Road and West Ten Road near Efland.
The officer reported observing signs of impairment, namely a “strong odor of alcohol” and “red glassy eyes.” Savarino admitted to having consumed alcohol and was administered a field sobriety test. The officer gave him a “poor” report on that test.
Savarino was taken into custody and did a breathalyzer test, completed at 2:38 a.m. It showed a blood alcohol content of .08. When driving a motor vehicle, the limit is .08 in North Carolina.
Savarino was charged with DWI, driving after consuming alcohol under the age of 21 and the stop sign violation.
Banchero was riding in the back seat of the Jeep when the traffic stop occurred. Because the car was registered to Banchero, he was charged with aiding and abetting impaired driving.
After joining Duke’s basketball team as a walk-on player in 2018, Savarino was put on scholarship last summer for what turned out to be his final season with the Blue Devils. Following his arrest, Savarino’s team-based discipline included banishment from team activities for what Krzyzewski called “a violation of our standards.”
His driver’s license was automatically revoked for 30 days following his arrest.
Savarino was not on the bench for three games, then was with the team for two road games but in street clothes on the bench. He returned to the team in December, hitting a 3-pointer in his first game since the arrest when Duke beat S.C. State, 103-62, on Dec. 14 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Banchero did not miss any playing time due to the incident. Krzyzewski defended that decision by pointing to the severity of the charges both players faced and saying it was “two entirely different situations.”
This story was originally published July 27, 2022 at 4:19 PM.