Spending the evening with Coach K

Posted On: April 29, 2010 By: Cliff Comments: (more)

Last night I had the pleasure of listening to Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski speak to a sold out crowd in Rapid City, SD as he was the guest speaker for the John T. Vucurevich foundation. I never thought that I would get to see Coach K clear out here where I am from (90 miles from Rapid City) and I was lucky enough to find a couple of tickets to the event on craigslist the night before the event. I’m glad I was able to go and my wife even enjoyed it so that was a plus.

A couple of interesting facts that Coach said was that as a high school senior he was set on attending either Creighton or Wisconsin but his parents really wanted him to attend West Point after Bob Knight stopped by for his home visit. He laughed and said that you pretty much did what Coach Knight said because you did not want to have one of your chairs broken in the house especially when you only have four to begin with. Later on Coach k came back to the story and said no chairs were broken only a couch lol.

A good portion of the speech was about coaching the Olympic teams and how he and the other assistant coaches were able to bring the players closer together and get USA Basketball back on the map and winning championships. We were shown a 2.5 minute video clip that was played to the team right after they landed in Beijing which stressed about having no excuses and having each others backs. Hearing how he communicated with players like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade was pretty interesting and you can tell why Coach K is such a great leader.

Toward the end of the event, coach did take some questions from the audience which I thought was pretty cool. One question asked what he was thinking with about four minutes left against Butler in the championship game. Coach K replied “Scared as Hell, fortunate to win. He wanted to just allow the team to play and follow their instincts rather than try to over coach the situation” Now that is having trust and great communication with your team!

Another question that was asked asked what he looks for when recruiting student athletes. His answer to that was three things. Basketball talent, academic talent, and last but not least good character kids. He then mentioned former Duke player Grant Hill winning the NBA Sportsmanship Award for the third time in his career and that is one of the great character guys that he has had at Duke.

Overall, the event was great. Tickets were only $7 for adults and $3 for students. Students and community played a big role in the speech and that is exactly what the Vucurevich Foundation is about. Coach K did a great thing and went around during the afternoon and spoke with all the area basketball teams which I thought was a great thing and played right into the foundation’s goals.

Was anyone else in attendance last night? Leave us a comment with your thoughts if you were please.

Category: Duke Basketball

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4 Responses to “Spending the evening with Coach K”

Ryan Says:
May 1st, 2010 at 1:49 am
I grew up in Rapid City (live in Colorado now) and have been a Duke fan since the Bobby Hurley days. Would have loved to see Coach K. in person. I have been reading this blog for some time and did not know you were from Rapid City. Good to here from another South Dakotan that share my passion for Duke Basketball. Extremely happy for the championship and look forward to another successful year.
ggrabbit Says:
May 12th, 2010 at 12:24 am
COACH K’S BEST COACHING JOB, TO MOST CHALLENGING

Prior to the start of the basketball season, if someone walked up to me and stated that Duke was going to win it all this season I would have praised them for being optimistic. As a Duke fan, your spoiled with success and feel every season you’ll be in the final four.

Their most explosive and reliable scorer Gerald Henderson had declared for the draft. Who was going to pick up the scoring? Who expected the three headed monster to fill in that gap? Duke had been a team that was consistently criticized that there was no true big man or a point guard. Jon Scheyer, who is he going to fly by for a drive and dish? As far as big man, enter Zoubek. He accepted his role, wasn’t going to scare you with low post moves but took advantage of his height and kept possesions alive with his offevsive boards.
This nonathletic (according to espn analyst Doug Gotleib) were the last men standing when all was said and done. The conductor of this team deserves a lot of credit for choreographing beautiful chemistry. Can a repeat occur?
Nonatletic is not a word you’ll be reading about with this year’s team. Kyrie Irving rated number 2 point guard in the nation will be running the helm. Smith and Singler will provide the Sr. leadership. Role players such as Dawkins, Kelly, and the Plumlee brothers will see their roles increased. Let’s not forget transfer Seth Curry. The talent is there, but are the minutes? Is this year’s team going to accept each role that Coach K expects from them? There is only one basketball to go around. It will be interesting and fun to watch this team and how they will handle the pressure of defending their title. It will also be Coach K’s toughest coaching job. One thing I know for sure, I wouldn’t bet against him.
Cliff Says:
May 27th, 2010 at 7:37 am
Ryan, I’m not from Rapid City but 90 miles south of RC. I’m in Chadron, Nebraska. Thanks for reading the blog and look forward to more of your comments.
free basketball coaching Says:
August 4th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
The coach’s thoughtful experiences and ideas on the play are very useful. Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski is a great personality and its amazing to read his life experiences through your post. we look forward for more such posts.