Mike Krzyzewski Discusses His Return From Quarantine
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski completed a 10-day quarantine just before Duke played Wake Forest on Saturday.
Krzyzewski was pulled off the bus as the team was preparing to depart for Florida State last week, after a member of his family tested positive for COVID. He ended up missing one game, Wednesday’s win against Boston College.
“It’s good to be back,” he said. “I’m really proud of the job my staff and my players have done while I wasn’t physically present. They didn’t get tired of meeting on Zoom. Listening to me is one thing, but when you have to just look at my face a long time, it’s not the prettiest sight in the world.”
Krzyzewski went into detail on his Saturday morning before getting cleared to coach.
“Thank you to Duke Medical,” he said. “They stepped in when I was getting on the bus, going to Florida State. They were right to do that. Mickie (his wife) and I have been tested every day since. Mako (Medical) was at our house at 5:45 this morning to test us. At 8:30 I came in and stayed isolated here. They told me I was good to go—Mickie was good—so I was able to part in our walk through at about 9:15. That helped. Instead of me just coming in and saying, ‘Surprise!’ just before the game. It allowed me to establish a little bit more contract with them.”
Krzyzewski also shared details about other family members impacted by the virus.
“I will say this,” he said. “My daughter Debbie and granddaughter Emmy are still fighting the virus. It has not gone away. They’re doing okay, not great. My heart goes out to everyone out there who has a family member or they’re fighting this. It’s serious. We’ve had 16,000 people die the last four days. I’m just happy that we have such a good medical center and medical people to take care of us. I‘m happy to be back.”
