Coach K says he’s in ‘good health’ as he quarantines after COVID-19 exposure
Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday he is in “good health” as he quarantines from a coronavirus exposure but he’ll miss the Blue Devils next scheduled game on Wednesday night.
Krzyzewski and his wife, Mickie, began a 10-day quarantine last week after a family member they had been in close contact with tested positive for COVID-19.
Even though Duke health officials told Krzyzewski his chances of spreading the virus were minimal, Krzyzewski and his wife didn’t travel with the team when they flew to Tallahassee, Florida, on Friday ahead of Saturday’s scheduled game with Florida State.
Associate head coach Jon Scheyer was prepared to take over the interim head coaching duties but that game was postponed late Friday night when the Seminoles reported three positive COVID-19 tests in their program.
No. 21 Duke (3-2, 1-0 ACC) is scheduled to play Boston College on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. But Krzyzewski said Monday his quarantine won’t be done in time for him to be on the bench for that game. Scheyer will serve as interim head coach.
“I’ll be quarantining for the rest of the week,” Krzyzewski said. “I’ll have Zoom meetings with my staff to go over Boston College and put out a practice plan. I had a meeting with my staff this morning.”
Saturday’s noon game with Wake Forest remains a possibility, Krzyzewski said, since his quarantine time could end in time for the noon start.
Guidelines established by the ACC’s Medical Advisory Group dictate a quarantine can end in a few as seven days if the person has no symptoms and tests negative for COVID-19 through a robust testing protocol.
Krzyzewski said the Duke health and local public health officials who are determining the length of his quarantine have set it at 10 days, though.
“The noon start of the Wake Forest game is right at the end of the quarantine,” Krzyzewski said. “I’ll have to get guidance. I hope that I’ll be able to do that.”
Krzyzewski is tested daily for COVID-19 and has tested negative so far. Mickie Krzyzewski has also tested negative.
Duke has not played since winning 75-65 at Notre Dame on Dec. 16. The Blue Devils saw two ACC games, against Pitt and Florida State, postponed last week due to COVID-19 issues within the opponents’ programs.
Krzyzewski said he was getting ready to board the bus to head to RDU Airport with the team on Friday for the trip to Florida State when Duke’s medical staff, including infectious disease specialist Dr. Cameron Wolfe and chief medical officer Dr. Ned Amendola, advised him to quarantine instead.
“They said the chance of you having it is minimal,” Krzyzewski said, “but there’s a chance that you could have it. I listened to Cameron Wolfe and Ned Amendola. That’s the way we’ve done it.”
Wolfe also chairs the ACC’s Medical Advisory Group.
While quarantining, Krzyzewski is able to watch practice via Zoom. He regularly meets with the coaching staff virtually and said he’ll also have meetings with each player individually via FaceTime.
“We’ll do the best we can,” Krzyzewski said.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Coach K says he’s in ‘good health’ as he quarantines after COVID-19 exposure."