'Proud' Mike Krzyzewski focuses on Duke players' feats, not self after epic career ends with loss to North Carolina

NEW ORLEANS — After the last game of his 47-year career, Mike Krzyzewski walked to the podium in a makeshift media room at the Superdome and spoke after Duke's 81-77 loss to North Carolina in the Final Four — exactly four weeks after the Tar Heels spoiled his last home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

But he wasn't interested in talking about his legacy or career, which came to an end in New Orleans in a loss to his greatest rival.

«First of all, congratulations to North Carolina, » Krzyzewski said. «Hubert and his staff and those kids have done a heck of a job and tonight was a battle. It was a game that the winner was going to be joyous and the loser was going to be in agony. And that's the type of game we expected. We would have liked to have been on the other side of it, but I'm proud of what our guys have done.»

He added: «It's not about me, especially right now. I'm just concerned about these guys. I mean, [they were] already crying on the court, and I mean, that's the only thing I can think about.»

In June, Krzyzewski announced that the 2021-22 season would be his last and assistant Jon Scheyer would replace him. With 1,202 wins, 13 ACC championships and five national titles, he is generally viewed as the greatest coach in college basketball history along with John Wooden, the legendary UCLA leader who won 10 national titles during a 12-year stretch.

For Krzyzewski, Saturday marked the end of a 47-year career that included 42 seasons at Duke.

In 1975, Krzyzewski secured his first head coaching job at Army, where he remained for five seasons before he was hired at Duke prior to the 1980-81 campaign. After finishing under .500 in league play in three consecutive seasons at Duke, Krzyzewski was on the hot seat. But he