The Blue Devils have had to deal with plenty of adversity with injuries and a suspension to All-American Grayson Allen, and things won't get any easier entering the second week of ACC play.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski will have lower back surgery Friday to remove a piece of a herniated disk, the team announced Monday afternoon.
According to the release, the anticipated recovery time is up to four weeks. Blue Devil associate head coach Jeff Capel will coach the team after Krzyzewski's absence beginning Saturday against Boston College.
“Dr. William Richardson, Dr. [Allan] Friedman, and our medical team have worked tirelessly to help manage this issue for several weeks,” Krzyzewski said in a release. “Together, we have determined that surgery is the best course of action at this time. During my recovery process, the team will be in the capable hands of Coach Capel, [assistant] coach [Nate] James and [assistant] coach [Jon] Scheyer. As soon as the doctors clear me to do so, I look forward to returning and giving our team 100% of my energy and attention, which is certainly something that they deserve.”
The Blue Devils are coming off an 89-75 loss at Virginia Tech Saturday and will take on top-20 teams in Florida State and Louisville next week.
Krzyzewski had inguinal hernia repair surgery in early May 2016 and knee replacement surgery in April as he prepared for the Rio Olympics.
He last missed a Duke game last February at Georgia Tech—the first game he had missed since 1995—due to illness. With Krzyzewski sidelined due to back surgery in 1995, the Blue Devils went 4-15. They will look to handle the adversity more effectively with their leader sidelined this time around.
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