Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski is “in a much better place," associate coach Jon Scheyer said after the head coach experienced health issues that prevented him from coaching the second half of the Blue Devils’ 76–74 victory over Wake Forest on Tuesday.
“Coach is doing better. He needs some rest, but not going to comment more on that,” Scheyer said. “But he’s doing much better.”
Scheyer did not know he was coaching the second half until the team went back to the locker room for halftime and “clearly Coach wasn’t himself, wasn’t all right.” Krzyzewski remained in the building and spoke to the team after the game.
The 75-year-old coached the entire first half as the Blue Devils powered to a 42–33 lead, but he did not return to the sideline for the second half. According to The Athletic’s Brendan Marks, trainers had tended to the coach during the first half, bringing him water. Duke tweeted out a statement saying, “Update: Coach K is not feeling well. Will not return to bench tonight.”
This is the second time the Hall of Fame coach has been unavailable this season, the first also being against Wake Forest due to a non-COVID illness.
Scheyer will be taking over the program when Krzyzewski retires after this season. Duke president Vincent Price reportedly wanted to hire former Blue Devils guard and current Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, according to a new book by New York Post sports columnist Ian O’Connor, while Krzyzewski preferred Scheyer.
