It wasn’t hard to spot Roy Williams during his first year of retirement.
He visited arenas across the country for games, including every step of North Carolina’s wild ride to the NCAA championship game against Kansas, a matchup of two programs he once coached.
Duke freshman Trevor Keels is the fourth Blue Devils player in the past week to announce plans to enter the NBA draft.
The school announced Keels' decision Saturday and said he planned to hire an agent.
New Duke coach Jon Scheyer has promoted former Blue Devils player Amile Jefferson to assistant coach.
The school announced the hiring Tuesday.
Jefferson, who turns 29 next month, was director of player development in Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski’s final season.
Duke has hired former Elon head coach and Blue Devils staffer Mike Schrage to work as special assistant to new coach Jon Scheyer.
The school announced the move Thursday. Schrage had resigned at Elon on Monday after three seasons.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jon Scheyer tried to soak up every possible nugget and detail he could as retiring Mike Krzyzewski’s designated successor in their final season together on the Duke sideline. Conversations on everything from game strategy to motivating players turned into an endless stream of notes and ideas, studiously documented on his iPad.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It should come as no shock that North Carolina and Kansas are playing for the national title. Their names, complete with their intertwined histories, are cemented on the short-short list of college basketball's greatest programs.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — For the 48th time over 47 years of unparalleled coaching, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski took the slow walk to midcourt and shook the hand of the North Carolina coach who beat him.
After that, he found his wife, Mickie, and they made the slow, sad walk, hand-in-hand, off the Superdome floor.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In a titanic third battle, Caleb Love and North Carolina proved they could play their outside-shooting finesse attack better than Duke could play bully ball.
The first meeting in the NCAA Tournament between the longtime rivals ended with a familiar storyline from the regular-season finale, when the Tar Heels got their offense humming after halftime with 3-pointers, floor spacing and off-the-dribble drives against Duke.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Big (blue) Easy has one more bit of bedazzling in store.
North Carolina and Kansas, basketball blue blood running deep in their veins, are headed to the national championship game.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — North Carolina has won six national championships and reached more Final Fours than any program in college basketball. Duke has claimed five titles under retiring coach Mike Krzyzewski and Kansas just surpassed Kentucky for the most wins in the history of the game on its way to the Final Four.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The sport Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is leaving is run by an organization he doesn't much recognize anymore.
Or like at all.
The 75-year-old coach, whose career ends after Duke is done at the Final Four, used the opportunity of what could be his last big news conference Friday to spell out issues he feels will haunt college basketball and the NCAA until they're fixed.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The name “Tobacco Road” misses the point. The most important industry in the 11-mile stretch of real estate between North Carolina's two cathedrals of hoops, the Smith Center in Chapel Hill and Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, is basketball.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In one of his tried-and-true motivational speeches, Mike Krzyzewski outlined his four pillars of team building: making everyone feel important, taking ownership in the team, adapting to setbacks and playing with feeling.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — North Carolina's Hubert Davis doesn't have the long history of sideline success as the rest of the coaches at this week's Final Four.
He's not worried about being the new coach on the block, either.
This year's Final Four is either unprecedented or pretty close.
In one corner, North Carolina is making a record 21st appearance in the Final Four. Its semifinal opponent, Duke, is waiting with the sport's winningest coach.
There’s no room for a surprise team at this Final Four.
Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Villanova have combined for 17 national championships. Each of the schools has won at least three titles, making this the first Final Four in which each of the teams already had won multiple championships.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Duke and North Carolina are taking their much talked about and often debated men's basketball rivalry on the road to a place its never been.
The neighboring schools are preparing for another first in a series filled with big-name players and intense finishes: playing each other in the NCAA Tournament.
The Duke-North Carolina rivalry has been filled with future NBA stars and intense finishes through nearly 100 meetings in Mike Krzyzewski’s Hall of Fame tenure with the Blue Devils.
Now, with the teams preparing for Saturday’s Final Four meeting that marks the neighboring programs' first in the NCAA Tournament, here's a look at seven of the memorable matchups during Krzyzewski's tenure:
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski refused to let his players ponder the possibility of facing North Carolina for the first time in the NCAA Tournament after the Blue Devils had punched their Final Four ticket with a win over Arkansas.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — America’s favorite underdog, Saint Peter’s, shouldn’t feel all that bad. North Carolina has crushed lots of dreams over the decades.
The Tar Heels ended all hope of a March Madness miracle in the early going Sunday, getting 20 points and 22 rebounds from Armando Bacot in a wire-to-wire 69-49 runaway over 15th-seeded Saint Peter's.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — North Carolina crushed all hope of a March Madness miracle in the early going Sunday, getting 20 points and 22 rebounds from Armando Bacot in a wire-to-wire 69-49 runaway over 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s farewell tour is headed to his record-setting 13th Final Four after Duke overwhelmed Arkansas 78-69 on Saturday night in the Blue Devils’ most complete performance of this NCAA Tournament run.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Mike Krzyzewski slowly climbed up the ladder, bowed to the adoring Duke fans and then pointed to his players to give them the credit before cutting the final string of the net.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When Duke's season and Mike Krzyzewski's coaching career were on the line in the closing minutes of the Sweet 16, it was a talented freshman who made sure it wouldn't end.
Paolo Banchero delivered the key plays down the stretch of the victory over Texas Tech that sent the Blue Devils into the West Region final against Arkansas.
Duke keeps winning games in the NCAA Tournament and Mike Krzyzewski keeps telling anyone who will listen, “It’s not the coaching.”
There’s some evidence to suggest he’s right.
For one thing, Duke relies almost entirely on freshmen and sophomores, which means his core group of players have only had so much time to soak up Coach K's decades of gathered wisdom.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Mike Krzyzewski has spent more than four decades at Duke telling his players what to do, with championship-level results.
With his Hall of Fame career in danger of coming to an end, Krzyzewski let his players dictate the game-closing defensive strategy of switching from an uncharacteristic zone defense into Duke's famous man-to-man.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When Texas Tech coach Mark Adams got his first head coaching job back in 1981, Mike Krzyzewski was getting ready for his second season at Duke.
While Krzyzewski was winning five NCAA titles, three Olympic gold medals and setting records for most wins by a men's coach in Division I, Adams was slogging his way through junior college, NAIA, Division II and low-level Division I with a brief hiatus running a minor league hockey team.
If a Duke player makes a defensive mistake, there's a good chance Mark Williams is there to clean it up.
The sophomore is elite rim protector and solid rebounder with the spring to finish around the rim.
Jeremy Roach kept working to be ready for his moment, even as he bounced in and out of Duke’s starting lineup filled with NBA talent.
That’s why the smallest player in the rotation keeps coming up big for the Blue Devils in their push to send off retiring Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski with one final championship run.
Mike Krzyzewski's farewell tour was thisclose to over.
Duke trailed Michigan State 70-65 with 5:10 left to play Sunday and there was next to nothing he could do about it.
“I’m an Army guy,” recalled Krzyzewski, who played for Bobby Knight at West Point and started his coaching career there.
Duke survived a tense finish against Michigan State and extended Mike Krzyzewski’s final NCAA Tournament run, beating Tom Izzo’s Spartans 85-76 on Sunday in the Hall of Fame coaches’ bittersweet last tussle.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Mike Krzyzewski’s emotions began to flow with a few seconds left on the clock, when it was finally certain Duke would extend his last NCAA Tournament run.
He whirled around to face the section where his family was sitting behind him and extended both arms to point their way in celebration.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — In a sport where the only lasting stars are the coaches, few are more recognizable than Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo.
Both have spent decades at the top of their profession, with national titles, Final Fours and enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
Mike Krzyzewski won his first NCAA Tournament game as Duke's coach in 1985 and his 98th on Friday night.
He was an up-and-comer with a hard-to-spell last name back then, and a contender for the title of college basketball G.O.A.T.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Michigan State was tough enough to take back the lead in a critical moment, then fortunate enough to withstand Davidson's desperation final charge.
“I thought it was a little bit of a roller-coaster,” Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo said.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Duke began retiring Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski’s final NCAA Tournament with minimal stress, beating Cal State Fullerton 78-61 on Friday night.
Freshman Paolo Banchero scored 17 points to lead the Blue Devils (29-6), who jumped to a double-digit lead in the first 4 1/2 minutes and remained in control throughout.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Mike Krzyzewski got the defensive improvement he wanted to start the NCAA Tournament after some shaky performances down the stretch of his final season.
Duke began the retiring Hall of Famer's last journey through the brackets with minimal stress, beating Cal State Fullerton 78-61 on Friday night.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Mike Krzyzewski headed for the tunnel after Duke’s practice Thursday, offering a wave to the cheering fans who had gathered to watch and hopefully capture a brief moment from his final NCAA Tournament.
The latest on the NCAA Tournament bracket announcement:
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North Carolina turned to Hubert Davis to replace retired Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams. Now Davis has the the Tar Heels exactly where they ended Williams’ final season.
Touting his team's accomplishments has become a defense mechanism for Gonzaga coach Mark Few.
Hard to blame him with all the complaints that the Zags don't play anyone and are in a weak conference.
NEW YORK (AP) — For the second straight Saturday night, Duke failed to deliver Coach K a send-off victory.
This time it was Virginia Tech playing party pooper.
Hunter Cattoor scored a career-high 31 points and the seventh-seeded Hokies won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament for the first time, beating Duke 82-67 to deny Mike Krzyzewski a league title in his final season.