College basketball coaches have struggled to console players after the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is trying in his own way.
Coach K said he FaceTimed his players on what would have been the weekend of the Final Four in Atlanta. The Blue Devils would have been a contender to reach the Final Four, and Krzyzewski wanted his players to know that they were “worthy of being there” as a way of granting them “closure.”
With the way the season ended, how did Coach K celebrate this year's @DukeMBB squad?
He talked about it with @Chris_Spatola on ACC Radio! #TheBrotherhood pic.twitter.com/V9iRGme9Wl
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) April 8, 2020
For seniors and underclassmen who will go pro, the canceled tournament is a bitter pill to swallow. After all, there’s one Duke freshman who will never even get to experience the tournament. Coach K can’t replicate the experience, but he can do his best to give them a bit of consolation.
