Speaking in front of a gathering of local media Wednesday about his gold medal experience in Beijing, Mike Krzyzewski declared that for the past three years, he has lived USA Basketball every day.
But that brief but lucrative stage in the coach's career pales in comparison to the past 28 years in which his daily life has revolved around Duke Basketball.
So it was only fitting that Krzyzewski's Blue Devil players gathered with him the night before he left for Beijing and were waiting to greet him at his home when he returned to Durham Monday.
Krzyzewski called the two meetings good "bookends" for his storybook journey across the world with the Olympic team.
While the Duke coaching staff was overseas builing up the national team, though, the players they left behind were following Team USA with intensity-and forging a group bonding experience of their own.
The Blue Devils came to Scharf Hall at 2:30 a.m. Sunday to watch the gold medal game between the United States and Spain, enjoying the sights and sounds of the game and devouring a freshly catered breakfast from a local Durham eatery.
And for the first time since coming to Duke, the players got the chance to observe their coach as spectators.
"It was exciting watching him," sophomore Nolan Smith said. "He's real laid back from the standpoint that he wants to let his players play.
"He had Chris Paul and Jason Kidd as point guards who are very intelligent-since I'm a point guard, watching them, they were running the show out there and Coach K was just kind of pointing at them.... They looked like they had fun playing with him, and I can't wait for him get back."
While Smith focused on Team USA's play at his own position, fellow sophomore Kyle Singler said he was able to absorb more about Duke's system by watching professionals play for his coach on an international stage.
"They definitely ran a lot of our transition sets and it's fun what the pro guys do with it because you get a different look on how they read stuff and what they do in certain situations," he said. "A lot of the plays that they did run we do run, so it definitely helps us as a team."
Now, for the first time in three years, Krzyzewski only has one day job and looks to apply what he learned on the international courts to Duke's play at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
And his players get their coach in person, not via satellite.
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