Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski is Voicing His Discomfort With Conference Realignment

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has voiced his opposing opinion to the recent trend of conference realignment. This has been brought about by the recent news that Maryland will be leaving the ACC to join the Big Ten.

Maryland is one of the 7 original members of the ACC, which was born in 1953. That is 59 years of tradition playing rival to its fellow Atlantic Coast teams. Krzyzewski referred to the traditions of college conferences as priceless.

“I hate the fact that we get rid of, in our own conference with Maryland leaving, 60 years of tradition based on a decision right now because you think you’re going to make more money in a certain situation,” Krzyzewski said.

He went on to say, “You give up what really makes college athletics, which is the traditions.”

Coach K feels that the traditions of our conferences, and college basketball as a whole, are being overlooked for financial gains. It’s like a shot to the gut when everything you know and love about the game, and your conference, is getting flipped upside down right in front of your eyes. There is nothing anyone can do about it; these changes are real and happening in more frequency. I sympathize with the helpless feeling of basketball purists who love this game such as the great coach Krzyzewski.

The ACC will reportedly add Pittsburgh and Syracuse in the summer of 2013, Louisville in 2014, and Notre Dame in 2015. Conferences will be undergoing major changes, and the inter-conference match-ups of former generations will cease to exist into the future.