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Dialuna 21 Maart 2022

Krzyzewski, Izzo set for final meeting in NCAA tourney

(AP) — In a sport where record on a Saturday after-
the only lasting stars are noon or whatever, for me, it’s
the coaches, few are more been the wrong thing to do.
recognizable than Duke’s
Mike Krzyzewski and “I know the only banners that
Michigan State’s Tom are up at Duke are champion-
Izzo. ship banners, and that means
you have to beat a number of
Both have spent decades at people.”
the top of their profession,
with national titles, Final Krzyzewski is nearly out of
Fours and enshrinement in time to add to that list, his
the Hall of Fame. career down to no more than
five games before he joins
They’ve squared off far more the list of prominent retir-
frequently than usual for ees like North Carolina Hall
teams in different leagues, in- of Famer Roy Williams and
cluding on the sport’s biggest Oklahoma’s Lon Kruger,
stage in the NCAA Tourna- both of whom left the sport
ment. last spring.

On Sunday, they’ll do it one The future beyond that?
final time. Krzyzewski, who has long
advocated for more proac-
“The game is bigger than between coaching buddies Are you going to do this? Are is the winningest coach in tive NCAA leadership when
normal,” Izzo said Saturday, whose meetings have become you going to do that?’ college basketball history and it comes to helping the game
adding later: “There’s going a welcome staple on the non- can reach 1,200 victories on evolve, is thinking about it
to be weird emotions on both conference schedule. It’s also “First of all, I’m not going to Sunday to go with his five na- in the fleeting moments be-
sides of the scorers’ table.” a reminder of the changing do any of that. The players tional championships and re- tween preparing his team for
Amazon a cera un acuerdo di mas
college basketball landscape. will hopefully find a way to cord-tying 12 Final Four trips the next game.
win. But just think what he’s in a 47-year career, 42 com-
The second-seeded Blue Krzyzewski plans to retire af- di 8 miyon dollar pa haya MGM
Devils (29-6) and seventh- ter Duke’s final game, and a going through and his players ing at Duke. Izzo, 67, won “I would hope that people,
seeded Spartans (23-12) meet coaching rivalry like his with are going through. Emotion- the 2000 NCAA title and is whoever is looking at the fu-
in the West Region’s second Izzo could become a thing of ally, it’s got to be an incred- second among active coaches ture of our game and the fu-
round in a matchup that has the past amid today’s churn ible — I can’t even imagine.” with eight Final Fours in his ture of college sports would
more at stake than which of coaching changes. 27 seasons. try to get the veteran coaches
team advances to next week’s The resumes are just as in- — whether it be women’s
Sweet 16 in San Francisco. “It’s kind of hard for me to credible for the pair of tour- Yet what makes this meet- basketball, men’s basketball,
prepare,” Izzo said. “Every- nament-tested coaches. ing special is the fact these especially the two of us to-
It’s a farewell to a series, body’s saying, ‘Are you going long-successful coaches gether — to take a look at
entering its 16th meeting, to end his career on this note? The 75-year-old Krzyzewski keep finding their way to the world of basketball on
each other; this will mark the collegiate level and share
the sixth straight season that ideas, share what we think
the Blue Devils and Spartans might be good for a new
will meet. Both are part of structure,” Krzyzewski said.
the four-team Champions
Classic along with Kentucky “That would, I think, give a
and Kansas that traditionally greater in-depth look at our
kicks off the season. They’ve game and how it might be
also met as part of the annual able to advance and stay with
series between the Atlantic the stature that it has and
Coast and Big Ten confer- maybe increase.”
ences.
Izzo seems like one of the
Krzyzewski has gotten the first names to add to that list,
best of Izzo with a 12-3 re- though he’s not quite ready
cord, including 3-2 in the to turn his thoughts beyond
NCAAs with Final Four coaching. Asked whether re-
wins in 1999 and 2015. But cent retirement announce-
the most recent postseason ments affect his thinking
meeting went to Izzo, whose on his future, Izzo said he’s
Spartans edged a top-seeded planning to stay with it “for
Duke team led by eventual a while” and knows he’ll
No. 1 overall NBA draft pick have friends to reach out to
Zion Williamson in the 2019 in Krzyzewski, Williams and
Elite Eight. others when it’s time to con-
sider walking away.
Izzo acknowledged his los-
ing mark after Friday’s win For now, all he can do is get
over Davidson by saying he ready for one more round
has “got to be (Krzyzewski’s) with his pal.
favorite coach because he’s
beaten us like a drum.” “For 40 minutes, I’ll bet you
Mike wants to beat the hell
“You don’t put a banner up out of me, and I bet you I
by your record against a cer- want to beat the hell out of
tain team or a certain coach,” him,” Izzo said. “And what
Krzyzewski said. “So if you happens after, only time will
get caught up in that or your tell.”