Coach K was back on the sideline and insists he’s ready to finish out the final season of his Hall of Fame career.
In his second-to-last game as Duke’s coach at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Mike Krzyzewski saw his fifth-ranked Blue Devils crush Florida State, 88-70, after missing the second half of their previous game while not feeling well.
“I’m glad I made it until the end of the game. It’s about time. They pay me to do the whole game, not portions of it,” the 75-year-old Krzyzewski joked with reporters. “It’s basically exhaustion and nothing else. But I feel great.”
Duke has been in the midst of a dizzying schedule of five games in 11 days, which played a part in his issue in the previous game.
“We get back to more of a normal schedule now, so I think I’ll be good,” he said. “I’m trying to be good.”
There is just one game in Durham left for him, March 5 against rival North Carolina. It figures to be an event. Even this game drew a lot of big names, like Mike Dunleavy, Danny Ferry, Sheldon Williams, Tyus Jones and younger brother Tre Jones.
Mike Krzyzewski coaching during Duke’s win over Florida State on Feb. 19, 2022. Getty Images“It’ll be emotional — the last game here,” Coach K said. “Some of these games have [already] been a little emotional for me. Even today with all the crowd, you want to savor that feeling because you’re only going to be able to walk out on that court one more time and have that feeling. It makes me understand how lucky I’ve been to do it hundreds of times.”
