Over 30 years ago, I fell in love with Duke basketball.
They were such a fun team to watch, and it was easy for me to relate to their 6 foot tall 150-pound point guard, Bobby Hurley, at the time.
Watching and rooting for Duke has been with me ever since.
I've also been blessed with some pretty cool Duke experiences, from working with former players like Brian Davis, Corey Maggette, Seth Curry, and Austin Rivers, to attending the Jay Williams senior night right behind the bench at Cameron Indoor. To this day, it's the best sporting event I've ever witnessed.
And through the years, of course, I've become a tremendous fan of Coach K.
Saturday night was his last game at Cameron Indoor. It was a sad day for me and many other Duke fans. But it also made me reflect on just how great he was and what an impact he made as a coach.
He is the all-time leader in wins in college basketball history with 1,170. He has five national championships, six gold medals, 12 final four appearances, 97 tournament wins, to name a few.
His character, principles, tenacity, love for his players, and desire to be great are everything a coach should be.
But probably my favorite thing Coach K has ever done, which speaks to who he is more than anything, is how he addressed the sold-out, star-studded crowd at Cameron Indoor after they lost Saturday night to North Carolina (video above).
After returning from the locker room, where I'm sure ripped his team up and down for their performance, he came out and said, "I'm sorry about this afternoon. That's unacceptable. Today was unacceptable, but the season has been very acceptable. And, I'll tell you, the season isn't over alright."
Then he walked off and sat back down. He wanted everyone to know where he stood on his teams' performance before any personal celebrations would begin.
On a day where everything was set up to be about him, he made it about his team, his university, the fans, and I know the competitor in him made him only think about getting to the next practice with his team.
We can only hope to accomplish a fraction of what Coach K did in his lifetime.
But he gave us exactly what we need in his short speech on where to begin:
High standards and expectations
Humility
Thinking of everyone else first
Ready to get back to working towards the next win
That's why he is one of the greatest coaches of all time.
Go Duke!