Grayson Allen isn’t the only member of Duke men’s basketball that will be missing some time. His coach will be sidelined, too. The ageless Mike Krzyzewski needs to undergo back surgery and as a result, he won’t be able to coach for about four weeks. Well, actually, he’s not ageless, even though his hair is darker than Christian Laettner’s. He’s 69 years old, believe it or not.
Associate head coach, and former Blue Devil, Jeff Capel, will step in for Coach K until he returns (which should be well before the tournament).
“His back has been bothering him way worse than he’s let on,” a source told ESPN.
Associate head coach Jeff Capel will coach the team while Krzyzewski recovers. Capel’s first game will be Saturday against Boston College.
“Dr. William Richardson, Dr. [Allan] Friedman, and our medical team have worked tirelessly to help manage this issue for several weeks,” Krzyzewski said in a statement. “Together, we have determined that surgery is the best course of action at this time. During my recovery process, the team will be in the capable hands of Coach Capel, Coach [Nate] James and Coach [Jon] Scheyer. As soon as the doctors clear me to do so, I look forward to returning and giving our team 100% of my energy and attention, which is certainly something that they deserve.”
H/T: ESPN
