Coach K vows to keep Cameron finale about his players, wants to ‘be in their moment’
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Coach K’s final game at Cameron
Complete coverage leading up to Saturday’s game between Duke and North Carolina. The March 5 rivalry matchup will be Mike Krzyzewski’s final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium before he retires at the end of the 2021-22 college basketball season.
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Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski offered no special words to his team Tuesday night at Pittsburgh regarding the final time he’d coach the Blue Devils in a road venue.
He won’t ask them to win one for him on Saturday night against rival North Carolina either, even though that will be his final time coaching Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium before he retires after 42 seasons at the school.
That doesn’t mean he’s lacking in feelings, though.
“I’m sure it’ll be emotional,” Krzyzewski said. “But it’s going to be about my team. Always, always, always, always.”
His final Duke team won its seventh game in a row, pounding overmatched Pittsburgh, 86-56, at Petersen Events Center.
The Blue Devils (26-4 overall, 16-3 ACC), who wrapped up the No. 1 seed for next week’s ACC tournament with the win, are riding high as their Hall of Fame coach winds down his career that began as Army’s head coach in 1975. That’s just what he wants.
“I want to be in their moment,” Krzyzewski said. “The thing I’ve learned, one of the joys of coaching for me in 47 years, is to be in the moment of the team that I have the honor to coach. I did that when I was in my 30s, 40s, 50s. Imagine being in your 60s being in the moment of 18 to 22 year olds when you win. Now imagine you are in your 70s? How lucky can you get, really?
“For me, then to say, `No. Look at me! It’s my last game.’ I’m not going to do that.”
Tuesday night’s road finale brought different kinds of emotions for both the visitors and the home team.
Pitt head coach Jeff Capel played for Krzyzewski at Duke from 1993-97 and was an assistant from 2011-18. He was part of a pregame ceremony where Pitt presented a statue of a fist — signifying five players playing as one — to Krzyzewski as a retirement gift.
But even before that, Capel said the gravity of coaching against Krzyzewski for the final time hit him.
“It was weird, man,” Capel said. “It was very, very strange.”
In the pregame locker room, Capel realized his emotions were close to the surface. He sent a text to his wife.
“For some reason, I just got really emotional,” Capel said. “And I didn’t really understand it. And obviously, when I came out and saw him and then seeing the video and, you know, the presentation to him. I mean, it was it was very, very emotional.
“It’s weird to think that the guy that I’ve known as coach, basically my whole life, is the only coach that I’ve known at Duke. That this would be the last time that I would be on the floor with them, you know, as a player, coach and coaching against him. It was surreal.”
Krzyzewski left his locker room to enter the court first. A few minutes later, Capel entered. He hugged Duke athletics director Nina King, who stood near the scorer’s table between the benches, then he headed straight for Krzyzewski for a hug.
After he greeted Duke’s staff with high fives and hugs, he left the court to enter the stands and hug Krzyzewski’s wife, Mickie.
Prior to the national anthem, Pitt played a video on the scoreboard that included Capel and Duke Hall of Famer Dick Groat praising Krzyzewski for his accomplishments.
The presentation of the trophy followed. The analogy to a fist is something Krzyzewski has used his entire career.
“It’s five guys playing as one,” Krzyzewski said. “I’ve used it with my West Point teams, my Duke teams and the U.S. team. It just makes sense. The five fingers are communication, trust, collective responsibility, care, and pride. And my guys believe in that.”
Capel learned of it when he committed to the Blue Devils three decades ago, and it still means plenty to him.
“I’ve believed that it since I was 17 years old,” Capel said. “And that’s what I told them when I gave it to him.”
That meant plenty to Krzyzewski.
“Jeff is part of our family,” Krzyzewski said. “So to be honored in that way, we really appreciate it. My family appreciates it.”
And now, it’s on to the next game, the last regular-season game — and his Cameron finale.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 2:10 AM with the headline "Coach K vows to keep Cameron finale about his players, wants to ‘be in their moment’."
