The biggest surprise of the last 29 years for Mike Krzyzewski followers occurred last summer, when the Blue Devils' Hall of Fame coach accepted the offer to coach the United States basketball team for a second straight time in the 2012 London Olympics.
Krzyzewski is 62 and doesn't have anything left to prove. He restored some dignity to USA Basketball when he coached a group of NBA All-Stars, including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony, to a gold medal in Beijing last year.
"The first time I did it, it was really an emotional - you have to do it," he recalled. "But this time, (USA Basketball executive director) Jerry Colangelo was going to do it again and we feel there's more to be done as far as laying the foundation for basketball in our country.
"We've learned a lot in our three years. It shouldn't have been a surprise we were getting beat, because there are so many good teams out there. Twenty percent of the NBA is international. Spain's team might have all NBA players. Two-thirds of Argentina's roster played in the NBA. And those national teams have been playing together for a long time.
"It's kind of like we were isolationists in thinking about our game and what happened was that, when we lost and weren't playing that well, it made us look and appreciate what the rest of the world was doing."
Krzyzewski is trying to restore a similar luster to Duke this season. When the seventh-ranked Blue Devils (5-0) meet 13th-ranked Connecticut (4-0) for the championship of the preseason NIT Friday at the Garden, it will be a chance for Krzyzewski - who led Duke to wins in this tournament in 1985, 2000 and 2005 - to reestablish the Duke brand name in an arena that has always been considered a second home for the Blue Devils because of the program's popularity in the area.
Krzyzewski has coached Duke to six ACC regular-season championships and eight ACC tournament titles in the last 11 years. But the NCAAs have not been kind to the Devils recently, as they have not advanced beyond the Sweet 16 since 2004, losing there three in 2005, 2006 and again last season. The Blue Devils also lost to Virginia Commonwealth in the 2007 first round and to West Virginia in a 2008 second-round game.
Krzyzewski has the personnel to improve the situation. Junior 6-8 forward Kyle Singler is arguably the most versatile player in the country and the Blue Devils have become a much more efficient ball-handling team since Krzyzewski moved senior Jon Scheyer - who had no turnovers in the first four games - to the point on a full-time basis. Krzyzewski added a much-needed shooter in Andre Dawkins, who passed on prep school to enroll at Duke this fall, and upgraded his defense with upperclass role players such as 6-8 senior forward Lance Thomas of Scotch Plains, N.J., who can guard multiple positions.