Durham, NC — Mike Krzyzewski didn't want it to end like this, but after Duke lost to North Carolina 94-81 in their final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, he was glad it did.
"It's hard for me to believe it's over," Krzyzewski told the oncoming crowd—some people spend $10,000 or more for a ticket—to say goodbye. "So I'm just going to say the regular season's over."
It's been a long season, and while Saturday wasn't the official finale line, perhaps, it was the end of his farewell tour, and for that, he was grateful.
Krzyzewski announced his retirement last June, a decision he said he did so that he would only have one last season to focus on coaching – no recruits, no worries about the future, no hopes of a championship. Just one last run. But that plan was never going to work. The basketball world was not going to see the most winning coach of all time, Krzyzewski, riding into the sunset. His career required a requisition.
And so at each stop with this season's schedule, the main story was Krzyzewski. There was respect at some stages. At others, emotional reunion. In North Carolina, just a month earlier, there was a proper absence of fanfare, only to see rival fans vent their anger on the enemy for the final time. Then, as an idea, they played basketball games, and with the exception of four of them, Duke won.
Then Saturday came.
The Blue Devils circled it a month ago. It was a rivalry game, but they had already defeated North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a statement victory in a season in which Duke also defeated Gonzaga and Kentucky. The game didn't matter much in the standings either. The Blue Devils, based on a seven-game winning streak, had already won the ACC regular-season title. No, Saturday was about this team writing its chapter in Krzyzewski's legacy, sending its coach the right way. It just didn't happen.
"I would be lying if I said I didn't know this date was coming," star forward Paolo Banchero said. "Everybody knew. It's something more than a regular game. It was important. And it sucks that we lost."
The funny thing is that Krzyzewski didn't like it all that much.
"I'm glad it's over," Krzewski said. "Let's just coach and see what happens in the tournament. It's been a real few days."
The whole ride has been surreal – part documentary, part praise, part circus and somewhere in the mix, basketball. After Saturday's loss, before the post-game ceremony began, Krzyzewski apologized to the fans present and in one voice refused to accept it. They weren't here to see Duke win—even in a game against hated North Carolina. They were here for Krzyzewski, results be damned.
For a coach like Krzyzewski, it's uncharted territory in a place like Duke. Winning is always job number 1. And that's probably what has felt so off-killer this season. There was victory, but only in the context of what it means for the larger narrative. And Saturday was the final curtain, the climax of the story Krzyzewski set in motion back in June.
Banchero, like his coach, wanted to find some meaning in the loss. It was a lesson. It was inspiration. It was catharsis.
However, this was exactly the end the Duke had been waiting for - for better or worse.
Endings, of course, come with new beginnings, and it seemed that Saturday meant the most to Krzyzewski. For his team too.
His retirement story would continue in the ACC and NCAA tournaments, but it would no longer take center stage. The camera will move away from the coach, at least for a while, and focus on the team—a team Krzyzewski truly believes is enough to win it all.
Banchero noted that the worst moments of Duke's season have come here in Cameroon, in front of home fans, who have pulled out each game to honor Saturday's countdown.
There are no more home games, and that's okay.
"On the road and everywhere we go, we've been hungry, and we're not going to play the NCAA Tournament here," Banchero said. "We're looking forward to going on the road and ready for it."
It's not so much an opportunity for atonement, though, it's a chance to turn the page to see what lies ahead, rather than Krzyzewski's 42-year career before this final race.
Banchero is still one of the most dynamic bigwigs in the country. Wendell Moore Jr remains the veteran commanding the offense, the beating heart of the roster. Mark Williams, AJ Griffin, Jeremy Roach, Trevor Keels — they all fit their roles exactly as they should, as if this were the real story Krzyzewski wanted to script for this season. And now, after a year of play, which was little more than just the final score, it is the team that is center stage.
That was the real ending Krzyzewski wanted.
"I wanted this year to be a really good coaching job, not a retirement year, and to stay hungry," he said. "I think I have, and I will. Until this is done."