Duke basketball: North Carolina will not honor Mike Krzyzewski

The North Carolina Tar Heels will not honor Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski. 

In the final season that Mike Krzyzewski patrols the Duke basketball sideline, the Hall of Famer has received gifts and recognition from opponents in games home or away.

However, his biggest rival will not honor him in the final time he coaches in the Dean E. Smith Center.

Ross Martin of Inside Carolina reported that the school has no plans to honor Mike Krzyzewski prior to the season’s first meeting between the rivals on February 5 in Chapel Hill.

“No gifts, special ceremony, or anything of that nature,” Martin put in his report.

The final season of Mike Krzyzewski comes on the heels of the last season Roy Williams spent as the head coach of the Tar Heels, although his retirement was announced in the offseason and effective immediately.

Coach K announced in the offseason that 2021-22 would be his final season and that associate head coach Jon Scheyer will take over as the program’s new head coach in late April.

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Hubert Davis took over for Williams in Chapel Hill.

Krzyzewski is the all-time winningest coach in college basketball history with 1,186 victories and five National Championships.

Duke basketball head coach with a chance to get the last laugh

Regardless of the ceremony, or lack thereof, that North Carolina gives Mike Krzyzewski, the Blue Devil head coach will coach his final game in Cameron Indoor Stadium against the Tar Heels on March 5.

The game is already a hotter ticket than the National Championship, and Cameron Indoor Stadium will be filled with dignitaries and former Duke legends on the night.

Duke begins a three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon in Louisville that ends in Chapel Hill next Saturday night.

The tipoff between the No. 9 Blue Devils (16-3, 6-2 ACC) and the Cardinals (11-9, 5-5 ACC) is slated for 12:00 p.m. (ESPN).