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Mike Krzyzewski’s feel-good retirement tour hit a rough patch last month.
According to ESPN.com, Coach K “started to spiral” over a report from Post columnist Ian O’Connor’s new book on the legendary Blue Devils coach that was exclusively published on this website.
In “Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski,” O’Connor details how Krzyzewski manipulated Duke’s succession plan in order to ensure that assistant Jon Scheyer took over for him.
Harvard coach and former Duke player Tommy Amaker was the university’s first choice to take the reins of the program. However, according to O’Connor, Krzyzewski reached out to Amaker and asked him not to take the job.
The Zoom call left Amaker “heartbroken,” a source close to him told O’Connor. The book says that Krzyzewski believed he would have more control of the program with Scheyer at the helm.
The report was published on Feb. 15 and Krzyzewski’s daughter, Debbie Savarino, told ESPN that “he didn’t feel good all day because he was really upset.” Krzyzewski did not come out for the second half of Duke’s win over Wake Forest that evening because “he was not feeling well.”
The 75-year-old was worried about hurting “a member of the tribe,” according to ESPN.
“He 100 percent has that guilt,” Savarino said. “‘Did I do something that caused any harm that would bother Tommy? I love Tommy. He’s one of my boys. I don’t ever want anything to hurt my guys.’”
ESPN reporter Wright Thompson, however, backed up O’Connor’s reporting.
“A source close to both Coach K and Amaker described O’Connor’s reporting to me as accurate. What’s clear from this private dispute being made public is that the succession plan left some damaged feelings,” Thompson wrote.
Krzyzewski will coach his final regular season game for Duke on Saturday against North Carolina before leading the Blue Devils into the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament, where they will likely be a No. 1 seed and among the favorites to win the title.
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