Coach K returned to the floor of Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday morning.
But don't expect to see him on the court in Greensboro on Thursday night when the men's basketball team takes on N.C. State in the play-in game of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski held a press conference to announce that his injured back has recovered and that he plans to return to his full duties with the Blue Devils at the start of next season. The announcement was Krzyzewski's first public appearance since Duke's 75-70 loss to Clemson on Jan. 4 in Cameron.
Although he ruled out returning to the sidelines for this weekend's ACC tournament, Krzyzewski hinted that he could resume his coaching duties in practice as early as this afternoon.
Krzyzewski demonstrated his usual wit and good spirits in the hour-long press conference. He opened by greeting the media.
"It's great to see all of you," Krzyzewski said. "I never thought I would say that. I've missed coaching, and I've missed being in this gymnasium. It makes me feel really good to be back in Cameron."
Krzyzewski's troubles began last summer when he started to feel pain in his left leg.
He didn't realize at the time that this discomfort was related to his sore back. But in an Oct. 19 trip to his physician, he learned that he would need back surgery. And he underwent the operation two days later.
"The reason I had the back operation was not that I was just having back pain," Krzyzewski said. "I had been having back pain for a number of months. My physician did tests to see how my back was doing and if I had lost any strength in my leg, because you can have nerve damage in your leg as the result of a ruptured disk. And what happened was nothing showed up.
"I went to see [my surgeon] jhykjkjhkkjlhklkj
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