The Duke Blue Devils take on the St. John’s Red Storm on Friday, March 27, in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.
Fourth-year head coach Jon Scheyer hopes to get his team to a second straight Final Four. Also, he remains in search of his first national championship.
Meanwhile, legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who won 1,129 games and five crowns during his 42 years at Duke, is still connected to his former team and the college game.
MORE: Iowa basketball star details fiery, emotional speech that sparked Sweet 16 comeback
As a guest on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” Krzyzewski gave his opinion on the North Carolina Tar Heels, his former team’s chief rival. North Carolina fired head coach Hubert Davis on March 24 after five seasons.
“Hubert Davis is a good friend,” Krzyzewski told McAfee. “I’m sad that that happened. I think every coach in the country has empathy for him. You lose a player the caliber of Caleb Wilson … that’s a big thing. Look, they can do what they want to do. I just have a lot of empathy for Hubert and a lot of respect for him.”
Davis, a former UNC player, led the Tar Heels to the national title game in 2021-22, his first season. In the Final Four, North Carolina ousted the Blue Devils in Krzyzewski’s final game before falling to the Kansas Jayhawks.
This season, North Carolina earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament but was upset by the No. 11 seed VCU Rams. Freshman forward Caleb Wilson suffered a broken thumb during a March 5 practice and missed the rest of the season. He averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis yells down court during the NCAA Tournament against the VCU Rams. | The Greenville News via Imagn Images
Davis finished with a record of 125-54. Krzyzewski said he expects the Tar Heels to find a new coach who will lead them back into title contention.
“It’s one of the great programs of all time in any sport,” he said. “I’m sure they will get a coach that is worthy of that position.”
During the interview, McAfee jokingly asked if Krzyzewski might throw his hat into the ring to become UNC’s next coach.
“One, they would not want me to coach them,” Krzyzewski said with a smile. “The second thing is I’m through with coaching.”
Finally, this year’s Blue Devils square off against St. John’s at 7:10 p.m. ET March 27 on CBS and Paramount+.
— Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories on The Big Lead —
MARCH MADNESS: 2026 Sweet 16 TV schedule, game times & dates for NCAA Tournament
MLB: Predicting the winner of every MLB game on Friday, March 27, 2026
NFL: NFL pushes back Tom Brady’s sensational return to football
SPORTS MEDIA: Sweet 16 announcer pairings & TV schedule for 2026 NCAA Tournament
ENTERTAINMENT: 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards winners, Taylor Swift leads full list
VIRAL: Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce tower over 5-foot-3 Olympic champ Alysa Liu