I am obviously a Duke fan and I grew up in NJ, came close to going to St Anthony’s to play basketball. I say all of that to say, I clearly have a bunch of bias and may not be the best at providing an opinion on what I want to ask. But who better than UK fans for this?
Was K every bit as bad as Danny Hurley (even Bobby sometimes) in terms of working the refs?
I know K worked the refs and I know K substantially got some favoritism. I can admit that. But was K as brutal as Danny is perceived in your opinion?
Welcome to our board again!
K in my opinion was more respected and feared than Hurley. After the 4 Corners Coach retired he become the face of the best college basketball conference . K was leader. The difference is he earned that in decades where Hurley is demanding that after half a decade.
The other difference is K survived and battled many Hurleys in his career:Jerry Tarkanian , Smith, Roy Williams , Gary Williams , Pitino, Calipari, Izzo, etc…
K was a workaholic and like to control everything related to basketball game on the court and off the court. To me K helped Duke even academically and if Duke has now a vast fan base that surpasses the alumnae is because of the basketball program and relationships that he build.
Because of his longevity K was sexy in the college basketball world when he marketed his Duke coaching methods on vhsl tape ( by the way but he stayed sexy in the espn era and also in the social media era. He was not an inventor like Rupp or Knight or Smith or Calipari but he surpass them all because of his work ethic and building a deliberate image as the face of college basketball. He is doing that still in his retirement to Duke’s benefit. Some of the things he does are undeniable excellent other things would have have the Duke program being sanctioned by NCAA or other law enforcement agencies.
I can tell you that a lot of the fear and respect come also because of his influence and work behind the scene. When Roger Ayers retires from referee he will a be a very good person to give you first hand details from officiating side about coach K since he worked many of the rivalry games vs UNC.
From perfecting existing basketball concepts and leadership, Coach K is the goat. From pure basketball mind I still believe Rupp was the most creative coach and the goat.
K got protected by the empire of influence he helped building and he chose correctly when, where, how many times and how to retire and even his successor to protect his legacy. Rupp cared more about his players and the Commonwealth than his own legacy and didn’t have the same protection and was forced to retire.
I am surprised that you put Hurley and K in the same conversation. That’s a joke. There are many coaches like Hurley. There are very few like Rupp, Knight. Wooden or K.
