Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski on Tuesday called on college basketball to consider whether it’s best to continue playing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I would just like for the safety, the mental and physical health of players and staff to assess where we’re at,” Krzyzewski said.
Krzyzewski’s comments came after an 83-68 loss to Illinois.
The five-time championship-winning coach said he wasn’t sure who exactly was leading basketball and that the plan for everyone to start on Nov. 25 wasn’t well-planned.
The sport is largely governed by an oversight committee, but as Krzyzewski said, “Anything that’s led by committee is not agile.”
The goal, according to Krzyzewski, was to get in as many games as possible.
Many players won’t be able to go home and visit family for holidays, Krzyzewski said, arguing that this is a time when they should do that for their mental health.
“We’re just plowing through this,” he said.
Krzyzewski cited the rise in COVID-19 cases as the basis of his argument. On Tuesday, there were 220,225 new coronavirus cases reported in the United States and 2,597 deaths.
“People are saying the next six weeks are going to be the worst,” Krzyzewski said. “To me, it’s already pretty bad. On the other side of it, there are these vaccines that are coming out. By the end of the month 20 million vaccine shots will be given. By the end of January or in February, another 100 million. Should we not reassess that? See just what would be best?”
Krzyzewski recognized that his comments could be taken the wrong way since they were made shortly after a 17-point loss to Illinois, which dropped No. 10 Duke to 2-2 on the season.
“We got our butts beat,” he said. “For the good of the game and the mental and physical health of players and staff, we need to constantly look at this thing. I think that’s a smart thing to do.”
Duke has had two games postponed so far this season, but as Krzyzewski acknowledged, what happens in December isn’t as important to some as fielding a tournament in March.
“I know the NCAA is worried about the end game,” he said. “They’re not as worried about the game we’re playing right now.”