Pitt, coach Jeff Capel honor Duke's Mike Krzyzewski with gift, video tribute

In the minutes before his team began figuratively pounding Pitt into submission, Mike Krzyzewski was presented with a literal iron fist.

True to form for a man whose soft-spoken and unobtrusive demeanor belies his status as a colossal basketball icon, Krzyzewski appeared choked up by the gesture.

Tuesday night’s game at Petersen Events Center was Pitt’s final home game of the season but was recognized more because it was the final true road game of Krzyzewski’s Hall of Fame coaching career.

With Senior Day festivities for the Panthers celebrated last week, the pregame recognition Tuesday was limited to a video tribute Coach K, the 75-year-old, five-time national championship winner who last year announced he would retire at the end of this season.

Mike Krzyzewski thanks Pitt for the pregame honor and presentation pic.twitter.com/g4LlbXDgHW

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) March 2, 2022

“Congratulations on the most amazing career in basketball,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said in a recorded message broadcast on the video boards at The Pete. “You have given so much to the game and given and so much to us who have been lucky and fortunate enough to play for you.

“I love you, I appreciate you and I wish you nothing but happiness and joy in stepping away from the game.”

Considering Capel played four years for Krzyzewski and was hired off the Blue Devils staff in 2018 after seven years as a Duke assistant, Pitt was a fitting final true road trip for Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils finish their regular season Saturday at home against rival North Carolina, with the ACC Tournament (next week) and NCAA Tournament (later this month) to follow.

The emotions — and stakes — figure to be much higher for Krzyzewski during those games. But never again, after 47 years as a head coach,the past 42 at Duke, will Krzyzewski step into a hostile arena.

Then again, Tuesday’s crowd of 12,095 wasn’t all that hostile, not even when No. 4-ranked Duke jumped to a 16-3 lead or when they finished off a 86-56 win. Fans in Duke jerseys and T-shirts made up a significant portion of the seating areas, and even those partisan to the home team joined in steady applause when Capel and Pitt athletic Heather Lyke presented Krzyzewski with the basketball-sized fist.

The “made from Pittsburgh steel” keepsake was intended to represent, finger by finger, the five fundamental values Krzyzewski applies to coaching: communication, trust, collective responsibility, caring and pride.

“You couldn’t have done a better job,” former Duke basketball and Pittsburgh Pirates player and longtime Pitt broadcaster Dick Groat said in addressing Krzyzewski during the video tribute. “Your record speaks for itself, and you’ve been nothing but a success as a basketball coach — and you handled it all with tremendous class.”

An audible buzz came over the pregame crowd when Krzyzewski took to the court about 10 minutes before tipoff. He greeted each Pitt assistant before heading to the Duke bench. Moments later, Capel came over, and the two embraced and shared a conversation while encircled by photographers.

Tuesday’s win improved Krzyzewski to 9-2 on the road this season, a sharp contrast from when he was a 28-year-old rookie head coach at Army. The Cadets went 0-8 on the road in 1975-76.

More than 46 years before his final true road win was Krzyzewski’s first: a 73-66 Army victory in the 1976-77 season opener at Lehigh’s Taylor Gym.

In the interim came the vast majority of his 1,196 wins (regardless of venue), 12 Final Four appearances, 15 ACC Tournament titles, 13 regular-season conference championships (after clinching Tuesday) and five ACC Coach of the Year awards.

Krzyzewski’s wife, Mickie, made the trip and sat courtside. Former Pitt star wide receiver Tyler Boyd and former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier were among other notable patrons at The Pete.