Duke basketball is in mourning.
“We’ve lost a great member of our Duke family,” Coach Jon Scheyer announced at the beginning of his Thursday, September 24, press conference (via Facebook Reel by sports reporter Matt Giles), about the sudden passing of his longtime friend, former Blue Devils assistant coach Chris Spatola.
“Chris Spatola came to Duke the year that I was a freshman, so I’ve known Chris for about 20 years,” said the 39-year-old former college basketball player, who first joined the team in 2006. “And I think if you asked anybody over the last 20 years that’s touched our program, they would tell you what a smart — he’s brilliant, actually — what a smart, funny charismatic person that Chris was.”
As First for Sports previously reported, Spatola, son-in-law of legendary Duke coach Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewski, died at 47 on September 21.
“For me, I’m heartbroken for our Duke family and obviously most importantly his family, the Krzyzewski family and the Spatola family,” Scheyer added.
“Chris was the guy, after we lost to Villanova in the Sweet 16 [in 2009], he hugged me and told me we’ll be back and we’re going to win the whole thing, which we did the following year,” the coach added of the late ESPN analyst.
“He’s the guy that texted me when it was announced that I was the next Duke head coach that I’m built for this,” he continued. “He’s the guy that’s come every preseason and watched a practice. And afterwards I always looked forward to just, unsolicited, me and him would just always talk about concerns he saw for the team, what really surprised him and impressed him, and I always loved and looked forward to those conversations preseason.”
“So most importantly everybody associated with our program, our hearts and minds are on [his wife] Jamie and the kids, Coach K, his entire family and obviously the amazing person that Chris was,” Scheyer concluded.
Read More From First For Sports
- Professional Wrestler Pac Dead at 40 Just One Day After Competing in AEW Match
- Kai Trump Suffers Wrist Injury in First Tournament of Collegiate Golf Career
- NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Shades Manchester City After Team Is Found Guilty of Financial Breaches
This story Duke’s Jon Scheyer Remembers Coach K’s Son-in-Law As ‘Smart, Funny, Charismatic’ After Shocking Death first appeared on First For Sports. Follow First For Sports on Yahoo so you don’t miss what’s coming next.