“It’s a Challenge”: Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski Raises Concerns Over NCAA’s Plans for March Madness

Earlier this week, the NCAA committee announced that the annual NCAA tournament would be held entirely in one location. The coronavirus lockdown is still an ongoing issue, and this will help prevent extra traveling. Indianapolis is rumored to be the tentative venue for the tournament,

But according to Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, this does not seem very possible. “Logistically, I think it’s a challenge to get that many teams there,” Krzyzewski said. 64 teams participate in the NCAA tournament aka March Madness. Coach K feels that having many teams in just one location is not feasible.

Following the lockdown, the 2020 edition had to be canceled. The NCAA lost around $375 million because of that, and a repeat of that would be costly. “We need to have the tournament,” Krzyzewski said. “There’s no question.”

Krzyzewski says NCAA should try to delay the season

Due to the coronavirus, many practice facilities have been shut down across the country. This has prompted colleges to prevent fans from entering the arenas. Duke was one of the colleges to have taken such steps and have announced that there would be no fans in the Cameron Indoor Stadium for this season.

“I’m glad that [the NCAA is] looking at different things, including I would hope they always keep in mind that if it did get bad, worse than what it is, that maybe you could have [the season] later,” Krzyzewski said. “I’ve always been a proponent of that, starting the season later.” 

While the NBA had a successful bubble with zero cases, the NCAA cannot guarantee similar results. So Coach K has advised them to take it slow and delay it to whenever it becomes safer to resume action. But according to ESPN, Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball, is firm on the November 25 start date for the season.

Can Duke end their five-year run without the title?

On November 25, Duke begins their season with an easy home game against Gardner–Webb. They will be looking forward to getting their hands on the title, after disappointing during the 2019 March Madness.

With Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Cam Reddish on the team, they were the #1 seed and were favorites to take home the title. But they ended up losing to Michigan in the Regional Final, continuing their run without the NCAA title since 2015. They will be aiming to improve this year and get their hands on a sixth title.

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