ACC Basketball

Duke head men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski spoke out Saturday against the pro-Donald Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Gary Parrish of CBS Sports tweeted Coach K's statement on the matter:

Krzyzewski called it a "horrible day" and "an insurrection" before adding: "It went to the very fabric of this great country, where the symbol for our democracy is that Capitol, and we allowed that symbol to be really just spit on and stepped on."

On Wednesday, a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol while the election of Trump's democratic rival Joe Biden as U.S. president was being confirmed. Per CNBC, Washington police reported that more than 50 officers were injured and four people died amid the violence.

Following the breaching of the Capitol, Trump released a video in which he called for the mob to go home but also called them "very special" and saying "we love you" while continuing to allege the election was rigged. Attorney General William Barr told the Associated Press in early December that no evidence of widespread voter fraud had been found.

Trump finally conceded defeat in the early morning hours of Thursday, saying in a statement: "A new administration will be inaugurated on Jan. 20. My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power."

The 73-year-old Krzyzewski, who played college basketball for Army at West Point in the 1960s and later coached Army before making the move to Duke, has been critical of Trump in the past.

In 2017, Coach K said Trump "should realize he's accountable to all people."

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski weighed in on Wednesday's breach of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. by a pro-Trump mob.

On his SiriusXM show Basketball and Beyond with Coach K (h/t Steve Wiseman of the Charlotte Observer) on Thursday, Krzyzewski called the invasion "one of the darkest times for our country because the foundation of our country was shaken."

“How can that happen? Why did it happen?” he added. “We’ve got a lot of work to do as a country. We can’t have that. There’s no way that we can have that. Hopefully, as we move forward, we can come together.”

The breach occurred around 1 p.m. ET as Congress convened to certify the 2020 presidential election results for Joe Biden. Rioters made their way onto the Senate floor and were seen looting and vandalizing items from the Capitol. 

Per Evan Perez and Paul LeBlanc of CNN, five people are confirmed dead as a result of the invasion, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer. The Department of Justice announced Friday that so far 13 people are facing federal charges and another 40 were charged in Superior Court related to the breach.

Duke played its first game since Dec. 16 that same night. The Blue Devils beat Boston College 83-82 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Krzyzewski, 73, played college basketball at West Point from 1966-69. He served as an officer in the United States Army after graduating before moving into coaching. He was named head basketball coach for the Black Knights in 1975, where he spent five years before being hired at Duke. 

Ryan Ayers, a former men's basketball assistant coach at Notre Dame, has been charged with two felonies and two misdemeanors.

Per records from St. Joseph Superior Court 3 in South Bend, Indiana, Ayers was formally charged with three counts of voyeurism and one count of domestic battery. 

Additional details were not made available. 

Ayers worked on the Fighting Irish staff for four seasons from 2015-20 under head coach Mike Brey. The school confirmed in September that he wouldn't return to the program for this season. 

Per Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune, Notre Dame's statement simply read that Ayers "is no longer a member of the Notre Dame men's basketball program."

In addition to his work on the coaching staff, Ayers played basketball for the Fighting Irish from 2005-09. He appeared in 117 games over four years.

Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski will not coach Wednesday's game against Boston College, as he remains in COVID-19 contact tracing protocols. 

Krzyzewski was previously slated to miss Saturday's game against Florida State before that contest was postponed amid a positive test and other COVID-19 protocols on the Seminoles team.

Duke has had as many games postponed or canceled as it's played so far this season. The Blue Devils' women's program already canceled the remainder of their 2020-21 campaign amid COVID-19 concerns.

The men's team has not played since a Dec. 16 win over Notre Dame.

Krzyzewski has been one of the most outspoken critics of the college basketball season moving forward, saying last month the NCAA should reassess its plans.

"I would just like for the safety, the mental and physical health of players and staff to assess where we're at," Krzyzewski told reporters.

At the time, Krzyzewski pointed to promising signs with the COVID-19 vaccine as a potential reason to put a temporary pause on the season. However, it's unclear if the slow pace of the vaccine's rollout has changed Krzyzewski's mind regarding the college basketball season, as it's highly unlikely a majority of the population will be vaccinated before the season is completed.

Associate head coach Jon Scheyer will be on the bench Wednesday for Duke, assuming the game against Boston College moves forward as scheduled. 

Saturday's game between Duke and Florida State has been postponed following "a positive test, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing" within the Seminoles program, the ACC announced Friday night.

Duke previously announced head coach Mike Krzyzewski would miss the game, with associate head coach Jon Scheyer taking over temporarily. The school said Krzyzewski had been "exposed to an individual not in the travel party who tested positive for COVID-19" and was observing "standard quarantine protocol."

His team had already made the trip to Tallahassee, Florida.

The Blue Devils have had five games postponed or canceled already this season. They last played Dec. 16, beating Notre Dame 75-65 in their ACC opener.

Following a loss to Illinois on Dec. 8, Krzyzewski told reporters he thought NCAA decision-makers should "reassess" whether play should continue amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Duke women's basketball team went a step further and announced Dec. 25 it wouldn't be playing the remainder of its schedule.

It's unclear when Krzyzewski will be back on the bench. Duke's next game is Wednesday at home against Boston College.

Scheyer played for Duke for four seasons between 2006 and 2010, helping the Blue Devils win a national championship in 2010. He joined the coaching staff for the 2013-14 season and was promoted to his current role in March 2018.

The Pittsburgh men's basketball team postponed its Tuesday game against No. 20 Duke after a member of the Pitt organization tested positive for COVID-19, the school announced Monday. 

Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel tested positive for the virus on Dec. 19, but the team was able to continue as scheduled, per the Associated Press. He missed the team's loss to Louisville on Dec. 22, and the Panthers had no games scheduled between that loss and Tuesday's trip to Duke. 

In an interview with Pittsburgh's 93.7 The Fan, Capel said he had symptoms that were "difficult" to deal with, and he did not think basketball should be played amid the pandemic. 

Capel noted the different COVID-19 protocols among NCAA conferences as part of his reasoning for why he believes the sport should be paused at the collegiate level.

"We’re not getting paid, and when I say we, I mean the players. It’s different to me when you are a professional athlete.  It’s your job and you can make a choice. At the professional level, the rules are the same for each team. The leagues determine what the protocols are. Our protocols are across the board. You have some teams that test every day. You have some teams that test three times a week. You have some conferences that do something different." 

Both Pitt and Duke are in the ACC, which requires that any players or staff members in a program considered to be a high-risk transmission sport—including basketball—are tested three days before a game and again within 48 hours after the game ends and at least three times per week.

The conference follows CDC recommendations for contact tracing and quarantining. 

Capel is not alone in his disdain for continuing the college basketball season. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called for the NCAA to "reassess" continuing the season amid a rise in COVID-19 cases nationwide (h/t ESPN's Alex Scarborough). 

Duke's women's basketball team chose to cancel its season Friday due to concerns about safety amid the pandemic. The team hadn't practiced or played since Dec. 16, when there were two positive tests within the program. 

The ACC announced Wednesday that the scheduled men's basketball matchup between Syracuse and North Carolina for Saturday, Jan. 2 has been postponed. 

Per that press release, the decision "follows positive tests in a recent Syracuse opponent, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing required for the Syracuse men’s basketball team."

North Carolina (5-3) is currently ranked No. 17 in the nation, though that may change after Tuesday's 79-76 loss vs. NC State. 

"The difference in the game to me was their sense of urgency early in the game," head coach Roy Williams told reporters after the loss. "The first 10, 12, 14 minutes, their sense of urgency was greater than ours. They shot 70 percent, got every rebound when they did miss a shot. And so all of a sudden, (we're trailing by 17)."

"I just think for us moving forward, we just need to play with more fire, more intensity and stop letting players out hustle us a little bit," R.J. Davis added. "It's just like the little things that we have to fix."

Syracuse (6-1) has had an excellent start to the season, though matchups against Notre Dame, Wake Forest and now North Carolina have been postponed. The Orange also paused for two weeks ahead of the regular season after positive tests for COVID-19 within the program, including head coach Jim Boeheim. 

"Our top priority is the health and well-being of our student-athletes, Coach Boeheim and all members of the basketball program," athletic director John Wildhack said in a statement at the time. "Per our COVID safety protocols, following Coach's positive test we conducted an additional round of testing for all members of the basketball program. From that testing we learned that one other member of the program has tested positive."

Louisville head coach Chris Mack told reporters on Thursday that 90 percent of his players have already had COVID-19 and since recovered.

Mack said he didn't believe the high rate of positive tests came from his players being irresponsible: 

"Again, who knows how it was contracted, but I know it wasn't because of our guys' foolishness, or breaking curfew, or anything like that. By and large, our guys have done a great job. Knock on wood, 90 percent of our team's had it, and recovered thankfully. Unless something crazy would happen, I think the better part of the team has already had it, and doesn't have to worry about it from here on out."

Louisville and NC State postponed their scheduled game on Wednesday. 

"The postponement follows positive tests, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Louisville men's basketball team," the ACC said in a statement. 

After two weeks out of action, Louisville is set to return to the court for an ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup against Wisconsin on Saturday, Dec. 19 at noon ET. 

Mack explained why Louisville had to postpone the NC State game despite resuming practice this week:

"We decided that we just simply couldn't play the game against NC State. We didn't have enough available players. So, I think when people say, 'Well why? Why not? You resumed practice?' Doesn't mean all your individuals are back to practice. It just means the ones that are back were determined to be not direct contacts and had enough negative tests in order to return to the court. So, we didn't return as a whole unit when we began practicing this past Saturday. We're still in the process of getting players back at various stages, I'll leave it at that."

Mack said the game against the Wolfpack will be rescheduled because it is a conference game.

"We have plenty of time, we're in the middle of December," Mack said. "I'm sure there are going to be cancellations and postponements as we move throughout the conference season. ...  I'm sure our administrations are doing everything they can to figure out the date."

The No. 23 Cardinals have played four games this season and are undefeated, with wins over Evansville, Seton Hall, Prairie View A&M and Western Kentucky. 

Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell is using sales from his exclusive D.O.N. Issue #2 x Louisville sneaker to help fund initiatives at his alma mater, Louisville.  

According to John Karman III of UL News, all proceeds from the shoe sales up to $200,000 will go to scholarships and other initiatives in a program deemed "A Shoe for Change."

The shoes will be for sale Thursday for $100 each.

Mitchell is working with adidas and the university's Office of Diversity and Equity to determine which programs deserve additional funding.

The NBA All-Star discussed why this is an important program for him:

"With my mom being a teacher and based on the values she taught me from a young age, I have always understood the importance of education, which is why adidas and I worked with my alma mater, the University of Louisville, to ensure proceeds from the Louisville colorway of D.O.N. Issue #2 would fund scholarships to support Black students. I am passionate about giving back, so having the opportunity to support the Louisville community, a place that helped shape me, is really special and it’s great my friend and champion for equality, Angel McCoughtry, is supporting these efforts as well.'

Both the men's and women's basketball teams will wear Mitchell's shoes in their upcoming games, with Las Vegas Aces star and fellow Louisville alum Angel McCoughtry also supporting the efforts.

Duke small forward Jalen Johnson will miss Wednesday's game against Notre Dame due to a foot injury.

The school announced he will be out indefinitely.

Johnson has averaged 11.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in four appearances for the 2-2 Blue Devils.

Duke had canceled multiple nonconference games, but it is set to return to the court for an ACC battle against the Fighting Irish. The squad is in need of a win after some disappointing performances but will now be short-handed.

The 6'9", 220-pound forward, who played high school basketball for Nicolet in Milwaukee, was ranked 13th on 247Sports' composite list of the top men's basketball prospects from the class of 2020.

Jerry Meyer, 247Sports' director of basketball scouting, compared Johnson to Washington Wizards forward Troy Brown and called him a future first-round NBA draft prospect when offering this December 2018 scouting report:

"Great size for such a highly skilled player. Smooth athlete. Has the frame to fill out nicely. Room for improvement in foot quickness. Has complete skill set with high basketball IQ and top-notch court vision as a passer. Has high release jumper with range. Loves to go left. Passes well off dribble. Quality rebounder. Can improve as a defender. Tremendous talent with upside. Trending towards lottery-pick status."

Johnson transferred from Nicolet to IMG Academy before his senior season but headed back to his old school before the end of the year. He played nine games, averaging 24.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per outing. 

He committed to Duke over Kentucky, Arizona and Wisconsin (among other well-regarded programs) after being named Wisconsin's Gatorade Player of the Year during his junior season, when he registered 19.9 points, 11.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. He led Nicolet to the state championship as well.

Without Johnson, Duke could give small forward Wendell Moore Jr. more playing time. The sophomore posted 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.9 steals per game last season but has struggled to just 4.8 points per game in 2020-21.