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A net to victory: Mike Krzyzewski after Duke's win over Arkansas in March
Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
Emotional farewell after an extraordinary career: Mike Krzyzewski, better known as Coach K, narrowly missed the college basketball finals in his last season with the Duke Blue Devils.
The 75-year-old lost with his team on Saturday (local time) in the semifinals of the Final Four 77:81 against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
The two long-time rivals gave nothing in the 40 minutes of play.
In front of 70,602 fans in the New Orleans Superdome, Caleb Love made the decision by converting the crucial two free throws eight seconds before the end.
Thus, "Coach K", coach with the most wins (1202) in US college basketball, misses his tenth final in 42 years with the Blue Devils.
North Carolina's final opponents will be the Kansas Jayhawks on Monday.
They defeated the Villanova Wildcats 81:65 and now want to secure titles after they were the best team in 2020 but there was no final tournament due to the corona pandemic.
Three Olympic gold medals, two World Championship gold medals
When he left, "Coach K" remained modest: "It's not about me, it's about the boys here," said Krzyzewski: "I've always said throughout my career that my season should end in such a way that my players either shed tears shedding joy or sorrow.
Because then you know that they gave their all.
I myself will deal with all this in my own way at some point.«
Krzyzewski took up his post with the Blue Devils in 1980 and has since won five National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament titles (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015).
Only John Wooden (UCLA) was more successful than the 75-year-old with ten championships.
Krzyzewski also worked as national coach for eleven years (2005-2016), during which time Team USA won three Olympic and two World Championship golds.
Only one game was lost under his direction - the 2006 World Cup semifinals.
sak/sid/dpa