Coach K will not be available for Duke on Saturday after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID.
The Duke Blue Devils have had a tough start to the 2020 college basketball season. They are currently 3-2 and have an ACC matchup Saturday against Florida State in what will be Duke’s first game since December 16.
The Seminoles are the No. 18 team in the country and the matchup will only get tougher with the news that Mike Krzyzewski will have to miss the game due to COVID.
NEWS: Coach K will miss tomorrow’s game at FSU pic.twitter.com/lQeyRiQa92
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) January 2, 2021
Coach K out Saturday at Florida State
The good news from this is that the program didn’t say Coach K tested positive himself. At this point he is just a close contact and hopefully it stays that way.
Associate head coach Jon Scheyer will lead the Blue Devils in his place. The former Duke guard has been on the bench since 2014 and will get some experience leading the team at the age of 33.
Krzyzewski did talk about his concerns with having the season be played at all earlier this year, but his close contact was away from the team’s travel party. That at least mean Duke isn’t dealing with any sort of potential outbreak. The team has already had to cancel several games and postponed its December 29 matchup against Pittsburgh.
The main concern is that Coach K does not have the virus and if he does, that he doesn’t deal with any major issues.
From a basketball standpoint, Duke’s next game after Saturday is January 6 at home against Boston College. After that comes another home matchup next Saturday against Wake Forest.
Coach K is one of the legends of the game and hopefully he will be cleared and back on the bench soon.