Coach K Back To Say He’s Ok Idled Duke Mentor Dispels Rumors, Starts Looking Forward To Next Season
Mike Krzyzewski was back in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday, and there was no way to wipe the smile from his face.
Sitting on a small stage at one end of the court, Krzyzewski held a news conference to let everybody know he’s OK as he continues to recover from back surgery, and that he’ll be back on the sidelines with Duke next season.
“I’m embarrassed a little to do this news conference because I don’t have any earthshaking news. I don’t want to be a hot ticket. I just want to coach basketball,” he told a group of 80 reporters and 30 or so fans and students.
Jan. 4 was the last time Krzyzewski coached the Blue Devils, the team he led to seven Final Fours in nine years and national titles in 1991 and ‘92.
He underwent surgery for a ruptured disc on Oct. 21 and rushed back to work. The hasty return led to exhaustion and finally forced him from coaching the rest of the season.
“I was very scared,” the 48-year-old coach said. “I had never in my life not been able to just go at something, but I was just so exhausted. I just didn’t have any energy. You just can’t go, but you really want to. I was scared because I couldn’t believe it was just a back. It just had to be something else.”
Krzyzewski underwent tests and received a clean bill of health, but doctors told him he had to concentrate solely on rehabilitating his back. That meant total rest and cutting ties with a program he has guided the past 15 seasons.
On Monday, he looked like anything but a convalescing coach. He looked robust and chipper, and joked with the crowd.
He addressed the many rumors that circulated during his absence, the main ones being a much more serious illness or burnout.
“Like David Letterman, I have a top 10 list of rumors,” Krzyzewski said, laughing. “When you coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference and been around, rumors are part of the game and can be kind of funny.
“I know most people didn’t believe I was doing crazy things. There was a concern about cancer and there was a concern about that on my part, too, because you get to that point where you’re so tired … you wonder ‘Is it just my back?’
“That was the reason for all the tests and that’s why the doctors sent out a statement after about two weeks to say it was my back. I don’t know what burnout is. I was tired because of a bad back and I was exhausted because I was trying to do things I shouldn’t have been.”
The Blue Devils were 9-3 when Krzyzewski began his leave of absence and finished the regular season 12-17, 2-14 in the ACC. The losses matched the school record for a season and the league mark was easily the worst in school history. It was also the first time since 1986 that Duke fell out of the AP college basketball rankings.
Under interim coach Pete Gaudet, a 12-year assistant to Krzyzewski, the Blue Devils hung close in a number of games against ranked teams, but were rarely able to win.
“I am proud of my team and my staff for what they did during this time,” Krzyzewski said. “I’m sure if my team and my staff knew on Oct. 15 I wasn’t going to be with them, things would have been a lot different wins- and loss-wise. Over the last 15 years we handled winning with class and dignity. I’m proud of the way we handled the losses with class and dignity. I always remember that about this basketball team. They never quit.”