College Basketball

Listen: Coach K defends Grayson Allen, discusses tripping suspension

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:18 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, SI Wire/Sports Illustrated

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski went on the Dan Patrick Show on Thursday and discussed Grayson Allen’s suspension.

Coach K had a pre-scheduled appearance on the show that fell neatly after Allen grabbed headlines in a win over Elon for tripping an opponent (for the third time this calendar year), receiving a technical foul and losing his cool on the bench afterward. Duke levied an indefinite suspension on Thursday morning, which Krzyzewski justified.

“I mean, it gives me time as a teacher to teach and figure out,” Krzyzewski explained. “There’s not a 10 Commandments of Tripping. ... God didn’t send down a number of games. ... Each kid is different. ... This is not the NBA. These are kids. It’s a time thing. It’s not like you give a suspension and it’s all over. It’s a learning experience and I’m going to use it as that and a teaching moment. The teaching moment does not stop by giving one game, or, maybe that’s what it is. I don’t know that right now. Maybe it’s three. Maybe it’s two weeks. But he won’t play until I feel good about the entire situation and where he is at.”

Allen was emotional and apologetic after the game in an interview after meeting with Krzyzewski and Steven Santa Ana, the Elon guard who he tripped. Krzyzewski was pushed by Patrick about the fact it was a repeat offense, and doubled down.

“Tell me you haven’t made a mistake more than three times. ... C’mon, Dan, you’ve been doing this a long time. These are human things. Human beings do human things. ... You’re being naive about this. You mean somebody doesn’t make mistakes more than three times. That doesn’t mean it’s right. He’s wrong each time. But how does anything happen, Dan? ... He understands that it’s wrong.”