March Madness has arrived in the Bay Area — along with Duke and its iconic head coach, Mike Krzyzewski.
The Blue Devils are one of four teams competing in the West Regional at the Chase Center on Thursday, as the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament returns to San Francisco for the first time since its inaugural competition in 1939.
Krzyzewski, a five-time national champion, three-time Olympic gold medalist and the winningest coach in division one men's basketball history, has been one of the prevailing storylines of not just basketball but in all of sports this year as he coaches his 42nd and final season before retirement.
During the tournament's "Sweet 16" media day at Chase Center on Wednesday, the legendary and Hall-of-Fame head coach was asked for his thoughts on Bay Area basketball and responded with a heaping of praise for the region.
"I'm very familiar with the hoops culture, with (former Cal and San Francisco) coach (Pete) Newell and the AAU teams from here," he said. "A lot of people in the East do not realize that this is a strong, deep rooted, love of basketball area as there is," he said.
Krzyzewski, 75, said he played in San Francisco as a member of the Army basketball team in 1971 and 1972 and remembs staying at the barracks in the presidio.
"I spent a lot of time here when I was in the Army… I was out here at least four different times for six week periods," he said.
"(Being in San Francisco) has conjured up a lot of great memories," Krzyzewski explained. "It's what I try to tell my guys: This area loves basketball. Not just the Warriors, it's deep rooted."
The Blue Devils on Tuesday practiced at the University of San Francisco's historic War Memorial Gym. Krzyzewski said he made sure his team saw USF men's basketball championship banners from 1955 and 1956 hanging in the rafters and he quizzed his players on who was the best member on those famed teams.
"They all yelled out 'Bill Russell'," he said. "I was actually surprised. I was ready to dig in on them. But they knew it."
"I love this area, it really is a part of the foundation of me becoming a coach," Krzyzewski said.
Duke, the number two seed of the West Region, plays the three seed Texas Tech at 6:39 p.m. on Thursday.
The first game tips off at 4:09 p.m., featuring Gonzaga, the No. 1 overall seed, and No. 4 Arkansas, which is led by former Golden State Warriors head coach Eric Musselman.
The winners will play on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four in New Orleans next week.
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