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Few people have made as much of a mark on college basketball as former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. He has one of the most accomplished careers of anyone around the game. The NCAA's winningest coach, Krzyzewski retired after last season at the age of 76.
Krzyzewski won 1,126 games, including five NCAA championships. Considering how long he has been around the sport and what a positive impact he has made, it should be noteworthy whenever Krzyzewski has an issue with the direction of the sport.
He recently had an interview on CNN and HBOMax's "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace," where he voiced these frustrations:
“The game that’s being played is not in chaos," Krzyzewski told host Chris Wallace. "We have good coaches, good players. It’s the things that are happening to the people playing the game.
“Every decision that was made concerning our sport eventually had to go through many committees. ... Do you know that a basketball coach was never present in the room where the decision was going to be made? How can you have a good feel for what you’re deciding on if you don’t hear from the people who coached the game or the head of our coaches’ association."
Mike Krzyzewski's thoughts on the NIL era
At the top of the list of concerns on the business side of the NCAA is the management of NIL deals. On June 30, 2021 the board of directors approved an interim name, image and likeness policy to allow players to profit from the game.
While this has been a long-fought battle that seemed destined to end with this result, it has also created several logistical issues. Mike Krzyzewski is strongly in favor of this idea, but spreads the message of the importance of making sure the details line up right.
“[Athletes] haven’t been helped for decades, they’ve been basically, in some respects, used,” Krzyzewski said.
The former head coach talked about how this should be viewed from a business perspective. With NIL opportunities now becoming a factor in recruitment and a player's future goals, it is important to keep the playing field level.
In the first season without Mike Krzyzewski as head coach, Duke basketball has taken a slight step back. Led by Jon Scheyer, the Blue Devils are 23-8 on the season and went 14-6 in conference play.
They picked up a notable win over North Carolina to finish off the regular season and have hit their stride down the stretch. Despite a slow start, Duke has all their goals ahead of them with the ACC and NCAA Tournaments getting ready to tip off.
