Coach K Will Return for Saturday's Game
Duke has announced that head coach Mike Krzyzewski will return to the sidelines Saturday for the Blue Devils' game against Wake Forest, completing a standard quarantine protocol after being exposed to an individual who tested positive for COVID-19.
Krzyzewski served a 10-day quarantine after being exposed to a family member who tested positive for the virus last week. He didn’t take the trip with the team for the Blue Devils’ scheduled road game at Florida State—a game that was later postponed due to COVID testing and tracing on FSU’s team.
Krzyzewski then missed Duke's win over Boston College on Wednesday. Associate head coach Jon Scheyer filled in as interim coach for the game. It was Scheyer’s first game as interim coach. Over the last five years, Duke has gone 7-3 in games Coach K was forced to miss due to illness, surgery and quarantine. Former associate head coach and current head coach at Pitt Jeff Capel served as interim coach for the first nine game, which took place between 2016 and 2018. Capel has also missed time this season due to COVID testing and tracing.
At the start of the week, Krzyzewski said that he would fulfill the ACC’s guideline of a seven-day quarantine prior to the game, but he was following the more stringent 10-day quarantine recommended by Duke Health. That quarantine was set to expire right at the time of the game’s tipoff, shortly after noon on Saturday.
Krzyzewski has not tested positive for COVID-19 and produced a negative test Saturday morning to be cleared.
