LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Eric Crawford and I have delivered columns, a podcast, a Sports Page, radio segments and other tidbits about the colossal news that washed over college basketball this week — Mike Krzyzewski will retire as the Duke University men’s basketball coach next spring after taking a victory lap.
Like most people who love the college game, I believe we’re in the appetizer part of the meal. In college basketball country, we’ll be munching on this one for weeks.
You know what that means — Four More Twists and Turns to Coach K’s Retirement.
1. Can Duke remain Duke?
Is the magic in Durham, North Carolina, the tradition, the Cameron Crazies, the spot on Tobacco Road in the ACC, the complete institutional will to compete at the highest level of the game?
Or has the magic of Duke basketball been Michael William Krzyzewski?
I’ll take B.
I expect Duke to take a step back on the national scene and in the ACC.
Saw it at UCLA when John Wooden exited. Still seeing it at Indiana 20 years after Bob Knight. Saw it at North Carolina until Roy Williams rescued the Tar Heels from Matt Doherty. Saw it at UConn after Jim Calhoun.
Joe B. Hall did a remarkable job following Adolph Rupp at Kentucky. Rick Pitino got Louisville back to full speed after the uneven end of the Denny Crum Era.
But the man who follows The Man typically struggles.
It’s not like Duke has been peak Coach K the last six seasons. The Blue Devils finished 13-11 last season, missing the NCAA Tournament while losing five games against teams that missed the NCAA Tournament.
Since beating Wisconsin for the program’s fifth national title in 2015, Duke’s NCAA Tournament record includes a 14-point loss to Oregon, a 7-point loss to South Carolina and the remarkable failure of Zion Williamson R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish to make the Final Four.
Don’t forget Lehigh and Mercer, the program’s first-round NCAA exits in 2012 and 2014.
Coach K could survive those messes? Could Jon Scheyer?
2. Was Scheyer the best pick?
It’s easy to say, ‘No,’ but impossible to say, ‘Yes.”
Krzyzewski obviously believed that Scheyer, a starting guard on his fourth NCAA title team, was most advanced, determined and proven candidate.
But how can any outside be certain that a 33-year-old coach can can exit the pits for the first time and excel in the fast lane?
Prior to Coach K, Duke produced four Final Four seasons. During the Bucky Waters, Neill McGeachy, Bill Foster eras, North Carolina State often had better teams.
Scheyer is merely the latest former Duke player in line for the job. I struggle to understand the thinking that a former Duke or North Carolina player has to be the next coach at those programs because Coach K (Army) and Dean Smith (Kansas) built their kingdoms with without being alumni.
Whatever.
At Duke, Johnny Dawkins was the guy who sat in the first chair longest. But he grew tired of waiting and has coached with mixed results at Stanford and Central Florida.
Did for Tommy Amaker, David Henderson, Bobby Hurley, Chris Collins, Greg Paulus, Kenny Blakeney, Mike Brey, Steve Wojciechowski and Jeff Capel.
None of those guys have been to a Final Four. Several have been fired. Three years ago Capel drew more praise than Scheyer. He was The Guy.
Then he took the job at Pitt. I believe if Capel had won big at Pittsburgh he would have gotten the call. He’s gone 40-48, without a winning season. He’s not The Guy.
None of the former Coach K guys have come close to doing Coach K things.
3. Where does Coach K rank among the game’s Top 10 coaches?
He’s No. 1 — and I’m not a John Wooden basher.
Yes, Wooden won 10 trophies, double the five Coach K brought home to Duke. Nobody will come close to replicating Wooden’s seven straight titles or 10 wins over 12 seasons.
But Wooden had the advantage of having his best players for their sophomore, junior and senior seasons. That wasn’t always true for Coach K.
Nine of Wooden’s 10 title teams had to win four games in an unseeded NCAA Tournament to claim the trophy. Every Coach K team had to win six NCAA games in a seeded field.
Advantage, Coach K.
4. Which programs are primed to benefit?
Virginia, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Villanova.
It’s difficult to add Louisville to the list without knowing the results of its current situation with the NCAA.
As my friend (and North Carolina alum) Mark Whicker advised me on Twitter, Tony Bennett of Virginia had already moved into first chair in the Atlantic Coast Conference before we started processing the off-season news about Coach K and Roy Williams handing over the North Carolina job to Hubert Davis.
Bennett does not do it the way Coach K and Roy Williams did it. Different playing style. Different recruiting emphasis. But he’s starting his 13th season in Charlottesville with no signs that he is interested in any other job.
Will Scheyer be able to win the one-on-one recruiting battles that Coach K won against John Calipari for Top 20 prospects?
Stay tuned. The Summer of 2021 will give us early clues.
But with Mark Few adding three Top 30 players, including consensus No. 1 recruit Chet Holmgrem, to his national runner-up program, the Zags have become a national force. So has Villanova with its 2 national title since 2016. Jay Wright is as committed to the Philadelphia area as Mare of Easttown.
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