Coach K in favor of COVID-19 testing of both teams before games, reassessment of ACC forfeiture policy

As COVID-19 cases once again wreak havoc on college and professional sports, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski shared some of his thoughts on how the disease is affecting the college basketball landscape during the Elon postgame press conference Saturday.

“I would like to know if the other team was tested just before we play going forward,” Krzyzewski said, also adding that he doesn’t like that both teams are not tested the day before.

In addition to wanting pregame testing for Duke’s opponents, Krzyzewski also said he is “not big on the forfeit thing” in reference to the ACC’s policy on what happens when a team cannot play a game due to COVID-19. As of now, if a team cannot play because it does not have enough players due to COVID-19, that team will have to forfeit the game with a loss being assigned to its conference record and a win to its opponent’s.

“I don’t like the forfeit thing,” he said. 

Prior to Saturday's game, the program announced that assistant coach Nolan Smith would not be in attendance due to Duke’s health and safety protocol. Krzyzewski, associate head coach Jon Scheyer, director of player development Amile Jefferson and other staff all wore masks on the bench, and after the game Krzyzewski said Smith is feeling "great" and that the two talked via FaceTime.

Krzyzewski’s statements also come days after Duke had to reschedule its Saturday game twice due to COVID-19 cases in the Cleveland State program and the Loyola Maryland program, with the former being its original opponent and the latter being its first replacement. The women’s basketball program was also affected by COVID-19 cancellations, with its Sunday game against Miami going down as a Hurricane forfeit due to COVID-19 protocol in the Miami program.