Before the afternoon clash with Maryland, Cameron Indoor Stadium took a moment of silence to honor the lives of Bill Werber and Kay Yow, who both passed away within the past week.
After the game, Mike Krzyzewski took a minute to also reflect upon the the powerful impact each individual had on the ACC.
"In the history of Duke Athletics, [Werber's] a man’s man," Krzyzewski said. "He’s a hell of a man. We corresponded a lot.... What an example he set for the people here at Duke."
The passing of Werber--Duke Basketball's first All-American--may have had a more direct connection to his university, but Krzyzewski made it clear that Yow's life, in particular her relentless fight against cancer, was equally significant to the community. Yow died Saturday in a hospital at the age of 66 after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987.
"The really great thing about her is that she had the courage to fight her battle in public," he said. "As a result, she not only fought for her, she fought for everyone that has cancer or will have cancer and for the families who are involved. She created an amazing awareness of that fight and served as such a good example. God bless her. She’s a terrific lady."
And although he claimed earlier in the press conference to have given up the mantle of ACC spokesman-after spending the past week hyping the ACC's merits relative to the Big East-Krzyzewski this time made a case for how remarkable the individuals in the league are off the court.
"It’s a sad day, and then in some respects, when we celebrate their life, it brings a smile on your face to know that you’ve been blessed with being in the presence of two amazing individuals," he said. "This conference has given all of us that chance. Whether they’re at State, Carolina, or Duke or Wake, or wherever, we’ve got some pretty damn good people."
UPDATE: Duke Women's Basketball speaks out on the passing of longtime N.C. State head coach Kay Yow.
"She has been such a warrior in terms of her fight and her struggle, but a part of me is just feeling great for her to be going home to a better place for her now," Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "I've never seen a woman or known a woman to share a story, her story, so eloquently under such incredible conditions.
"She transcends the basketball community. She’s been a historic leader in a very difficult circumstance for women’s health and issues. It transcends the game of basketball, and she was able to use the game of basketball in its proper context to make people better, to help people, to communicate. I still can never get over how ‘pink’ took over. The thing I’ll always think about with Kay is how she made pink. She made pink something special. For the longest time, pink was something soft and feminine and suddenly it became this courageous fight that everyone’s been united in, and that was one her many legacies. She made pink more beautiful than pink could ever be.”
Joy Cheek also expressed her admiration for Yow and noted how the Wolfpack coach loved all the players she came in contact with, whether they were her team's opponents or not.
"She is someone who will be greatly missed and my prayers go out to their team," Cheek said. "We all sent notes to her after our game at N.C. State, so we were glad that we were able to leave that with her: how much she has impacted our lives, our well wishes, our admiration and that she is in our prayers."
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