When Quinn Cook hailed Coach K for his selflessness after Duke's last NCAA championship win: "He was focused on our first together"

It’s been almost a decade to the day since the Duke Blue Devils last won a national championship. A lot has happened since then, most notably the legendary man on the sidelines, Mike Krzyzewski, retired in 2022 and has since been replaced by Jon Scheyer.

The captain from that team, guard Quinn Cook, treasured that win up until that trophy ceremony, where they beat Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker and the rest of the Wisconsin Badgers 68-63.

When interviewed by CBS play-by-play commentator Jim Nantz, Cook had nothing but high praise for Krzyzewski, especially for his selflessness:

“Coach K, he just helps everybody. He’s the greatest. He wasn’t focused on getting his fifth championship, he was focused on getting us our first together. So we’re just blessed to be a part of the Duke program.” (1:24:08)

That last Duke championship team was a special bunch, led by Cook along with fellow teammates who would go on to play for NBA teams. The group included the likes of Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow, Grayson Allen, Amile Jefferson, Marshall Plumlee and All-American Jahlil Okafor.

The Blue Devils only lost four games during the 2014-15 season and rolled through the March Madness tournament, winning four of their six games by double digits.

Jones went on to win the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, but Okafor led the team in scoring with 17.3 points per game. Jones, Okafor, Winslow and Allen would go on to get drafted in the NBA three months later.

While none of them went on to be All-NBA players, they carved out decent careers in the league with Allen and Jones still filling key roles for their respective teams.

Duke stands close to another title one decade after the last

The Blue Devils haven’t gotten much success since they last won the national title in 2015, only appearing in one Final Four (2022), and usually getting swept aside in the Elite Eight of the tournament.

Now, Duke stands on the precipice of another championship. Being led by the very talented Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils are back in the Final Four and are the odds-on favorite to win it all.

So far, they have also romped through the competition this year, losing only to Kentucky, Kansas and Clemson in the regular season. They have won 15 straight games dating back to February 12, winning the ACC championship along the way.

In the NCAA tournament, they have beaten opponents by an average of 23.5 points. Their trio of scorers; Flagg, junior Tyrese Proctor and freshman Kon Knueppel have taken turns taking over the scoring load.

The next obstacle on their quest will be the Houston Cougars, who boast college basketball’s most vaunted defense, according to kenpom.com. The game will be played on Saturday, April 5, at 8:49 PM ET at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The game will be broadcast on CBS.