Former Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has experienced his fair share of devastating losses during his long career. That’s what happens when you spend 42 seasons at one school.
Even though Krzyzewski has been out of coaching for several years, there’s a chance he could still be affected by the Duke loss. UConn’s Braylon Mullins found that out Sunday when he hit a late shot with 0.3 seconds left to knock Duke out of the NCAA tournament.
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Krzyzewski revealed his reaction to that shooting and everything that came before it during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday. He may no longer be coaching Duke, but Krzyzewski said during his appearance that the loss was “heartbreaking.”
“I tell you, it’s heartbreaking. I haven’t coached in four years, but, again, it was a great, great basketball game. Not a good game. It was a great game. I couldn’t sleep last night. I felt like I was a part of it. And then you think about all these individual kids and how you’re going to take care of them. And then [I have] So compassionate to our people. Obviously, I’m a Duke guy and care about them. This is still true. Because this is a difficult problem to overcome. “
During the 20-minute segment, Krzyzewski addressed Caden Boozer’s turnover, saying the game didn’t come down to that one play. Krzyzewski praised Boozer’s willingness to speak to the media after the game and said current Duke head coach Jon Schell will support the players and make sure they all know “no one player carries this burden alone.”
Krzyzewski didn’t lose too many games at Duke, posting a .785 winning percentage at the school. However, due to his longevity, he lost 309 games, some of which may have been just as heartbreaking for the former head coach.
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One of those losses likely came against UConn, which defeated Duke in the 1999 NCAA Tournament. Two years later, Duke resurged and won a national championship, proving that no single loss—no matter how devastating—is enough to completely destroy a program.
