COACH K :: essays research papers

The emotions Mike Krzyzewski displays on the courtare the hallmarks of any college basketball coach.His angry stare from the bench seems to sear referees. A snarl of disgust from the Duke leader gets his team back in line, and fast.showed a softer side. He cried. From those tears sprang a new beginning. Duke’s loss to Connecticut in the NCAAchampionship game no longer mattered. The stunning departure of five players, three of those leaving early for the NBAdraft, became distant memories. His physical pain became an afterthought on that April day when, recovering from hip-replacement surgery, ChrisCarrawell, Shane Battier and Nate James paid a visit to his home. â€Å"With all the stuff that was happening, they just came out and said, ‘Coach, we just want to know how you’re doing,’†Krzyzewski says. â€Å"It made me cry. It was like, ‘You care.’ We talked for a long time that afternoon, and we talked about next year. That was the start of this year’s team.† This year’s Duke team was minutes removed from cutting down the nets Sunday at the ACCTournament when Krzyzewski opened up about his team’s emotional journey this season. Acursory glance shows few changes from last year: Duke stormed to the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2000, finishing 18-1 in the league; the 1999 squad did the same, only without the one loss. Both Duke teams stood No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 polls and had No. 1 seeds in the NCAATournament. Even the talent level and sky-high expectations heaped on both teams are remarkably similar. And that may be the root of the biggest emotion of all at Duke these days. Surprise. n A decade of Duke dominance ended with a thud last March. The Huskies stunned the nation with a 77-74 win in the NCAAchampionship game, and the bad news kept flowing out of Durham. Sophomore Elton Brand, the national Player of the Year, announced his intention to enter the NBADraft. He made history as the first player in Krzyzewski’s 19-year reign at Duke to leave school early for the pros. Then, in rapid-fire succession, sophomore point guard William Avery and freshman sensation Corey Maggette also declared for the draft. Junior forward ChrisBurgess, disappointed with a lack of playing time, decided to transfer. The team’s rock, five-year star Trajan Langdon, graduated in May and also headed for the NBA. â€Å"Everybody was leaving us,† Carrawell says. â€Å"Quin Snyder left (to take over the head coaching job at Missouri). We lost a couple people off sports information! â€Å"We went over and saw coach. I was like, ‘Are you going to be ready to coach us this year?’† Carrawell says. â€Å"He was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be ready,’ and