Mike Krzyzewski finally masters one-and-done to win fifth Duke NCAA title
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Version 0 of 1. Gone are the days when college basketball coaches who landed the best recruits were afforded four years to mold that raw talent into champions. That’s how Mike Krzyzewski won his first two titles with Duke in 1991 and 1992: a team built around upperclassmen Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley. It was the same for the Hall of Fame coach’s third title team in 2001, when Shane Battier played talismanic centerpiece to the sophomore trio of Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy Jr and Jay Williams. Even the 2010 champions led by Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith – years after the introduction of the ‘one-and-done’ rule that effectively forced previously NBA-bound high-schoolers to play one season in college – relied heavily on veteran leadership. Not on Monday. Krzyzewski won a fifth national title – second only in college basketball history to UCLA’s John Wooden – with four freshmen combining for 60 of the Blue Devils’ 68 points. Every point after half-time was scored by a first-year player. And it wasn’t first-year phenom Jahlil Okafor who carried the day. When the consensus top-three draft pick went to the bench with a third foul and Duke fell behind 48-39, it was Grayson Allen – who’d scored 16 points in five previous tournament games combined – who rattled off eight-straight points to key the Blue Devils’ comeback. When surefire lottery pick Justise Winslow was compromised by foul trouble, it was Tyus Jones who stepped up to score 19 of his 23 points after the break to win Most Outstanding Player honors. “They came in so humble,” senior point guard Quinn Cook said. “It was all about the team. All of them worked. All of them looked to the upperclassmen for advice. They didn’t think they knew it all. “It’s great that it paid off in the biggest game of everybody’s lives.” At 68, Krzyzewski – Division I’s all-time leader in victories, who this year became the first coach to win 1,000 games – is showing even an old dog can learn new tricks. The proof is in the pudding: the 24-year span between Krzyzewski’s first and last titles is by far the longest in college basketball history. Krzyzewski’s Duke has always seemed a place resistant to change and by design. He’d always seemed to avoid one-and-done players and eschewed the quick fix, preferring to rebuild rather than reload. “When one-and-done became in effect, we still didn’t recruit those kids,” Krzyzewski reflected on Friday. “Then we started to recruit because we said, ‘Maybe some of them or one of them could fit the profile for Duke.’ When I say that, that doesn’t mean they’re not great kids and all that, but there’s a certain profile we look for, for whether he’s one-and-done or four years or whatever. So if we can find kids that fit our profile, we’ll deal with the consequences of whether they’re there for one, two, three or four years.” But Krzyzewski’s initial results embracing college basketball’s prevailing trend were underwhelming. In 2011, Kyrie Irving played one season in Durham before departing for the NBA as the No1 overall pick. That team was blown off the court by Arizona in the Sweet 16. In 2012, it was Austin Rivers who helmed the Blue Devils for a season. That team was stunned by No15 seed Lehigh in the first round. In 2014, it was Jabari Parker passing through. That team crashed out ignominiously to No14 seed Mercer. But in 2015, Krzyzewski struck first-year paydirt. This Duke team has fewer scholarship players (eight) than Kentucky had McDonald’s All-Americans (nine). But during a season overshadowed by the Wildcats’ run at a perfect season and John Calipari’s supposed mastery of the one-and-done system, leave it to Coach K to have the final word. “The ability to adapt is key in everything,” Krzyzewski said. “I think I’ve adapted well.” |