Mike Krzyzewski Sends Strong Message After Duke Basketball Announcement
Mike Krzyzewski Sends Strong Message After Duke Basketball Announcement originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Duke Blue Devils continue to be known as one of the top teams in college basketball, despite coaching changes.
Advertisement
Mike Krzyzewski served as the head coach of the college basketball program before Jon Scheyer took over three years ago.
While Scheyer has since led Duke to the Elite Eight and Final Four, Krzyzewski created an unmatched legacy with the Blue Devils.
Krzyzewski was also surrounded by one of the best staffs in the country, featuring Executive Director of Sports Performance William Stephens.
Stephens played a large role in the strength and conditioning department for Duke, helping Krzyzewski prepare his team for multiple title runs.
After the most recent college basketball season, Stephens officially retired from Duke.
Advertisement
Krzyzewski sent a message to Stephens after Duke posted the announcement, seemingly supporting his decision and thanking him for the success he helped bring to the Blue Devils.
"Will, congratulations on an amazing career," Krzyzewski said. "Thank you for sharing that career with my career. You've made my career a [expletive] of a lot better and by the way you've made every young man that's been in our program under your tutelage better. Not just in strength and athlete ability, they became better people."
Aside from being an incredible asset as the Executive Director of Sports Performance, Krzyzewski also explained that Will Stephens was a great man outside of the white lines.
"As good as you do with all the strength and conditioning, to me, the most important thing about you is you're a good man," Krzyzewski said. "You're a good man and the guys, when they're in your presence, they become better… I love you and respect you and I'm so glad that God's been good to me. We've been able to become such close friends."
Advertisement
View the original article to see embedded media.
Will Stephens spent 27 seasons at Duke. According to the Blue Devils' most recent announcement on his retirement, Stephens helped bring three national titles and four Final Four appearances, working alongside Mike Krzyzewski and Jon Scheyer.
Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike KrzyzewskiRobert Deutsch-Imagn Images
Mike Krzyzewski served as the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils from 1980 to 2022.
During his time at Duke, Krzyzewski led the Blue Devils to five national titles, 13 Final Four appearances, 14 ACC regular season titles and 15 ACC Tournament titles.
Related: Mike Krzyzewski Names Best Player in Duke Basketball History Without Hesitation
Related: Duke Blue Devils Suffer Major Coaching Loss on Saturday
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
22 minutes ago
- Fox News
LSU's Flau'jae Johnson admits friendship with Angel Reese has soured
Flau'jae Johnson and Angel Reese won a women's college basketball national championship together when the two players were with the LSU Tigers. However, it appears a lot has changed since then. Reese, who now plays in the WNBA for the Chicago Sky, opened up about her relationship with Johnson in September during an episode of her podcast, "Unapologetically Angel." She said at the time the two were not "as close as we used to be" and "there were no hard feelings" toward each other, but the closeness that was once there just is not anymore. Johnson added more to it when she appeared on "The Breakfast Club" on Monday. "We're not friends, but I mean that bond that we had, that thing that we did together, winning a national championship, you can never take that away from us," she said. "And so sometimes stuff happens. You wish it don't happen, but it do. And you just gotta grow. "But I support her in everything she do. Like, she's killing in the WNBA … I'm just proud of her." Johnson agreed that the reason for the split was partially to do with things happening in the background. "Yeah, it was a lot of media, it was a lot of locker room stuff, you know what I'm saying? Stuff that go on behind the scenes. But it happens. It happens," she said. During the 2023-24 season, as LSU looked to defend its national title, the mothers of both Reese and Johnson got into a social media spat. Reese's mother, Angel Reese Webb, criticized Johnson on social media, which prompted a response from Johnson's mom, Kia Brooks, who took aim at the former Tigers' forward GPA. Reese, the former LSU star, seemingly threw shade at Brooks when she graduated from school. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Washington Post
39 minutes ago
- Washington Post
A military celebration went very wrong 50 years ago at Shea Stadium
They came to see Nolan Ryan. They were treated to so much more. On June 10, 1975, a crowd of 31,809 attended the California Angels-New York Yankees game at Shea Stadium, which New York's American League team called home as the original Yankee Stadium was renovated during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.
CBS News
44 minutes ago
- CBS News
Aaron Rodgers to make his Steelers debut as mandatory mini-camp begins
The Pittsburgh Steelers report to the South Side on Tuesday for the first time together with these team members, including quarterback Aaron Rodgers, as the team's mandatory mini-camp kicks off. Rodgers will speak with reporters for the first time after practice. He was not on the field for organized team activities over the past couple of weeks as he remained unsigned, but he's in line to get three days of work with his new team before the Steelers break before training camp. As that work develops with the offense, much will be made about how much control Rodgers will have of the offense as the team's newest player. Rodgers officially signs his contract Rodgers was in the Steelers' facility on Saturday and signed a one-year, $13.56 million contract that includes $10 million guaranteed along with incentives. Rodgers' arrival is something that has his new teammates excited about what's to come. "Man, I think, like I've heard my other teammates say, we're excited that we have another guy to join the team, join the mission, join the cause. Obviously, he's a legend in his own right. His pedigree speaks for itself," said offensive lineman Calvin Anderson. Rodgers' signing also has many Steelers fans excited, so much so that his jersey was sold out at the Steelers team store as of Tuesday morning.
