Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski lost his yellow lab, Blue, last summer ahead of his final season at the helm of the Blue Devils program. But his successor — former player and long-time assistant coach Jon Scheyer — ensured on Thursday night he’ll have a furry friend as he walks into retirement.
At Duke’s end-of-year awards banquet, Scheyer presented Krzyzewski and his wife, Mickie, on stage with a puppy in front of the entire team. The puppy instantly took a liking to K by licking him in front of the entire audience, while Mickie saw the dog and got emotional.
“Since you have a lot more time now, Coach, we felt you needed something to train,” Scheyer said. The dog’s name is “Coach.”
Krzyzewski has said that his old dog died in his arms from lung cancer last August. He’s since publicly vowed to prioritize getting a new dog in retirement.
According to ESPN, Krzyzewski’s family at Christmas surprised him with a new Labrador that was expected to be born at the end of March, so it’s possible that Scheyer was merely the presenter of the Christmas present months prior. Either way, whether you like Krzyzewski and Duke or not, you’ve got to admit that’s a pretty stinking cute puppy.
