Last season, a reporter mistakenly assumed that point guard Bobby Hurley was the toughest player Mike Krzyzewski had ever coached.
Did growing up in Jersey City, N.J., have anything to do with Hurley's style and attitude?
"I don't know about that," Krzyzewski said. "The toughest kid who ever played for me was a Canadian."
Danny Meagher, a St. Catherine's, Ontario native, was a member of Krzyzewski's first recruiting class at Duke. He played for the Blue Devils from 1982-85 -- many moons and titles ago. Meagher earned his reputation as a bruiser, a 6-7 power forward who would dive for balls, commit the fouls and mix it up when he had to. But Meagher's legacy is a lesson he taught Krzyzewski nine years ago.
Meagher's Duke career had just ended in Houston, Texas, in the second round of the 1985 NCAA Tournament. Boston College -- a team of upsets then as much as now -- sent Duke, the Midwest region's third seed, home to Durham, 74-73.
"He was really the only senior that played a whole bunch, and at the end of that ballgame, in the locker room, he was just sobbing -- uncontrollably," Krzyzewski said. "And the rest of the team was down, but they weren't feeling like Danny. And I'll always remember it -- I've used it as a means of motivation for myself and talking to the team.
"He said, `You guys don't understand. I don't have a chance anymore. This is it."'
Those "guys" were juniors: Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas, David Henderson and Johnny Dawkins, along with sophomore Tommy Amaker. They were the group responsible for turning the debacle of Meagher's sophomore year, an 11-17 record, into respectability -- a 23-8 record and a top-10 ranking throughout the entire 1984-85 season. And the Blue Devils would be back -- all the way back to the NCAA championship game against Louisville the next season.
But for Meagher, the ride was over. And it hurt.
Every year, careers end for a group of Duke seniors, but because of Meagher, Krzyzewski has had a special message for each team.
"One of the things we've always tried to do, in the last eight or ten years with our team, is to make everybody aware of the fact that, for instance, it's Grant, Tony and Marty's last year," Krzyzewski said "There isn't a tomorrow,' so to speak -- tomorrow being next year. In crunch time, there can be a little more sense of urgency. There's less of a chance of rationalizing,Oh, we're going to get another shot.' I think those teams think as seniors instead of underclassmen."
A few days after the loss to Boston College, Meagher was back in Durham, walking through his old gym to check his mail.
"It was weird to think that I would never play there again," Meagher told The Chronicle back in 1985. "There was nothing better than coming out onto that court before a game and standing in the huddle. The crowd is going crazy, the band is playing the Blue Devil song. It's the most wonderful feeling in the world."
Krzyzewski couldn't have predicted where the Blue Devil program would go after Meagher's graduation. Even so, the tough-as-nails Canadian continues to play a part in Duke's basketball success.
"When Danny Meagher was crying in that locker room, I didn't envision us going to so many Final Fours and winning a couple of national championships," Krzyzewski said. "But I do believe that the lesson I learned that day helped.
"This is our time now, not next year or whatever."
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