With only one, two games max left in his coaching career, Duke's legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski had a lot to say about the NCAA on his way out the door.
After a 42-year career in coaching, Krzyzewski figured that what better time to rip the NCAA than at his press conference at the Final Four in New Orleans.
"I don’t understand. I’m getting out of it. It’s crazy to me," Krzyzewski said to reporters on Friday. "The structure we have now does not work. ... This is a time not to look at knits and bits. It's a time to look at the whole thing. I think we're all frustrated. And that's good because if you're frustrated it means then all constituents want change."
"It's time to come up with an organization that has not been able to adapt. And so this time is to catch up on all the things we didn't adapt to but to form an organization that can anticipate change, can forward look and say these things might happen."
The focus then shifted towards the organizations' president Mark Emmert, who Krzyzewski said is "at the edge of his seat," waiting to hear what his take is on the current state of college athletics. However, Krzyzewski never named any names.
"I’m not blasting anybody. I’m saying, 'Come on. Do this the right way.' I don’t see it happening the right way," Krzyzewski said. "I would take a look at the organization, who's on that transformational committee. I think there are more compliance people on it. Nothing against compliance people. That's part of what we do."
The six-time National Champion wants to see change take place in the NCAA in a massive way and asked some hypothetical questions about certain issues they may need to address.
"The thing that I would recommend is that this is a transformational time for college athletics," Krzyzewski said. "When you transform, the main thing you transform is structure, organization. I hear all these things that they're coming out with all the compliance stuff. That should come after structure."
"It's a time to look at and see: Do you do something like football and they're under one roof? Do you organize men and women's basketball under another roof? Do you do that in different segments of the NCAA? Do you have different houses, not try to put everyone in one house? Do you have leadership groups for each of those houses? Do they have the autonomy then to handle situations at that level that never gets to the big house?"
Krzyzewski was then asked if he would work for the NCAA after his retirement, stating that you have to listen to the people "on the ground" like young coaches. He then compared the big wigs at the NCAA to absent congressmen who are out of touch with the populous.
"The only way do it: You have to listen to people on the ground," he said. "Otherwise, you have absent congressmen who don’t know what they’re doing."
Krzyzewski and his Blue Devils are looking to keep stave off the 75-year-old coach's retirement against bitter rival UNC in the second semifinal matchup. The two programs split their regular-season matchups 1-1, with both teams losing on their home courts. Duke is a -4 point favorite for Saturday night's highly anticipated matchup.
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