The Blue Devils have grown used to losing players to injury this year, but after a dominant 110-57 win against Georgia Tech with all their major contributors finally healthy, they are now preparing to lose their head coach.
Mike Krzyzewski coached his last game for several weeks against the Yellow Jackets as he prepares to undergo back surgery Friday that is expected to keep him away from the court for about four weeks. Associate head coach Jeff Capel will step in as the temporary head coach beginning with Saturday's game against Boston College at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"It’s been about a month of [pain] and we tried to beat it, but we can’t beat it," Krzyzewski said. "I won’t be in a hurry to come back until I’m ready because I’ve made that mistake in my younger days."
His younger days came a little more than 22 years ago, when he had offseason back surgery in October 1994 but rushed back to be ready to coach for the start of the season. Krzyzewski was not fully healthy when he came back, and his condition worsened until he had to shut himself down for the season after 12 games. The Blue Devils went 4-15 without him on the sidelines.
Krzyzewski refuted the suggestion that he could miss the rest of the season this time around barring any complications, but expressed frustration about his ongoing health issues, mentioning that Friday's surgery will be his fifth operation in the last nine months.
Last offseason, he had knee replacement and hernia surgeries as well as a pair of procedures on his left ankle.
"I’m a little bit accustomed to listening to doctors’ orders and doing it the right way," Krzyzewski said. "I’m tired of it. I’m not tired of coaching basketball, but I’m tired of not being healthy."
Although Krzyzewski coached Duke to its most complete performance of the season Wednesday, he was in visible pain for much of the night, walking gingerly to and from the locker room at halftime and after the game.
With all eyes on the 69-year-old head coach following Monday's surprise announcement of his impending surgery, most fans could see what Blue Devil players have known for weeks.
"We knew Coach was in pain. He told us all about it," sophomore Luke Kennard said. "He needs to get better and we support him. We’re going to be right there for him."
For the next day leading up to his surgery, Krzyzewski will continue his normal work as the head coach, saying he would watch film from Wednesday's game and help game-plan for Saturday's contest. After Friday, though, it will be Capel's team for as long as it takes Krzyzewski to recover.
Capel, who started at point guard for the Blue Devils' 1994-95 team when Krzyzewski took his leave of absence, has been on Krzyzewski's staff since Oklahoma fired him as its head coach in 2011. He coached Duke to a win at Georgia Tech last year when Krzyzewski did not make the trip due to illness, and Capel is widely expected to be one of the leading candidates to succeed Krzyzewski when he retires.
As a result, the Blue Devils' players are not expecting any major changes with Capel at the helm.
"Coach Capel is younger so he can be more energetic. But still, he learns a lot of stuff under coach," junior Grayson Allen said. "He’s kind of an extension of Coach right now. That’s what we get from him. We get a lot of stuff from him where he’s just echoing a lot of stuff that Coach says."
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