Duke basketball: Mike Krzyzewski throws subtle shot at Roy Williams

The Duke basketball head coach gave a parting shot to a former North Carolina head coach. 

The rivalry between the Duke basketball team and North Carolina Tar Heels never dies.

Mike Krzyzewski held his pre-North Carolina press conference on Thursday afternoon, and the Hall of Famer covered a variety of topics ahead of his final regular-season game on Saturday evening against the Tar Heels, including his future endeavors.

Krzyzewski said that he does not plan to be a major part of the men’s basketball program once he officially retires and will not hover over Jon Scheyer as he begins his first season as the head coach of the Blue Devils.

The 75-year-old also said that he does not plan to attend games in his retirement.

“I will not be at games. Where do I sit?” Krzyzewski joked. “I’m not going to hover over everything. Everybody needs their space.”

ALSO READ: Duke clinches top seed in ACC Tournament with beatdown

The line felt like a shot at former North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, who retired from coaching at the end of last season.

Williams has been a fixture at North Carolina games this year, sitting right above the Tar Heel bench and adjacent to the tunnel. Television cameras show the Hall of Famer each game, in good and bad moments for Hubert Davis’ squad, and it always feels a bit awkward.

Duke basketball planning for a major weekend in Durham

The hype around Saturday’s game does not feel like a Duke-Carolina game. It feels different.

Every living player that Mike Krzyzewski has coached at Duke has been invited to the game.

ESPN and the ACC Network are already running live programing from campus, and the coverage on Saturday will be wall-to-wall on both airwaves until Sunday morning.

The No. 4 Blue Devils (26-4, 16-3 ACC) have clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament. Meanwhile, North Carolina (22-8, 14-5 ACC) has also clinched a double-bye, but its seeding is still to be determined.

Tipoff on Saturday is slated for 6:00 p.m. (ESPN) EST.