GREENSBORO, NC (AP) – Duke arrived at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament with the hope of running an unprecedented race to extend his long streak of NCAA tournaments.
Instead, Blue Devils had to leave the tournament abruptly and end its season due to a positive COVID-19 test and the resulting quarantine and contact tracking.
The ACC announced that the Blue Devils quarterfinal match against No. 15 Florida State on Thursday night has been canceled. And athletics director Kevin White said Duke’s season was over, ending the sequence of 24 consecutive Blue Devils appearances in the NCAA that began in 1996.
In a statement, White said the positive test for someone within the program came after Wednesday’s victory over Louisville, the Blue Devils’ second victory in two days in Greensboro. Before that, there were no positive tests throughout the season for a player or coach, he said.
“Since last March, when the pandemic started, we have listened to our medical experts and have always put security at the forefront of any competition-related determinations,” said White. “As a result, this will end our 2020-21 season. We wish all the teams that still play college basketball, good health and the best in the coming weeks. “
The Blue Devils (13-11, 9-9 ACC) failed to meet their high standards, but coach Mike Krzyzewski said he loved this young team and was honored to coach it.
“We have not asked for any more teams in our history, and they deserve huge credit for handling everything like the exceptional young people they are,” said Krzyzewski in a statement. “I feel deeply for our players, who have done an excellent job throughout the season taking care of each other and the team.
“I am extremely proud of their collective attitudes and efforts, which could not have been stronger.”
With Duke withdrawing, the Seminoles advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament to face the winner of North Carolina-Virginia Tech.
“I just think that preparing for the unexpected is what we’ve been trying to do all year,” said FSU coach Leonard Hamilton. “It is a pity that we cannot play this game today. But we have to deal with it in a mature way and be happy that no one is put at risk. “
In addition, Louisville released a statement on Thursday saying its tests were negative after the Duke game and did not anticipate any concerns about contact tracking.
“Our group is tested daily and is on a path to have the necessary consecutive days of negative tests to be able to compete in the NCAA Tournament,” said the school.
With the end of Duke’s season, it will be the first time since 1976 that the Blue Devils and another basketball blueblood – Kentucky – will not be in the NCAAs. The Wildcats lost the opening of the Southeast Conference Tournament for the State of Mississippi on Thursday, ensuring the program’s first losing season since 1988-89.
Duke has not missed the NCAA tournament since the 1994-95 season, when Krzyzewski ceased to be a coach due to complications from back surgery. Assistant Pete Gaudet took over, with the team finishing 13-18 a year after Duke played the game for the NCAA title.
Prior to that, Krzyzewski had lost the tournament at Duke only in his first three seasons, when he had a combined 38-47 fall and faced increasing pressure to change things, as his neighbors in the Triangle, North Carolina (1982) and North Carolina State (1983) won NCAA Championships.
The first tournament offer came in 1984 and Duke won 37 games, reaching an NCAA final two years later. This was the first in a remarkable series of seven Final Fours in nine years that included championships in 1991 and 1992. Krzyzewski’s teams won three more titles in 2001, 2010 and 2015.
This year started with some of the same expectations, despite a young squad without the same NBA-ready talent of the past few years, with names like Zion Williamson and Jayson Tatum.
Blue Devils started the year in 9th position in the AP Top 25, but were disqualified in mid-January for the first time in almost five years. They didn’t have the typical advantage of a rowdy country house in a Cameron Indoor Stadium without fans and saw freshman Jalen Johnson leave the team in February to prepare for the NBA draft.
After an unbalanced loss in rival North Carolina, the Blue Devils knew they probably needed to win the ACC Tournament to extend the NCAA streak, although neither team has won five games in five days in the tournament. They started with an unbalanced win against Boston College, then beat Louisville in the quarterfinals, after losing both regular season games.
All the while, Krzyzewski said he focused more on developing a youth group than on previous successes.
“It will pay off at some point if you stay with him,” said Krzyzewski after a defeat at Notre Dame in February. “It happened in 82 and 83, in 95-96 and in 2006. There are times in our program when you learned to value the victory that came at such a high level and how hard it is to lose.
“And we, as a program, need to continue learning this and valuing what it takes to win. You don’t do this by not working hard or trying to improve. And that is what we are going to do. “
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