"I came not to praise Louisville": When analyst Jay Bilas spilled the beans on Coach K's "craziest" pre-game candle ritual
Jay Bilas has established himself as one of the most well-known college basketball analysts over the years. However, he also played under legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, before also working with Coach K at the program as an assistant coach.
In December 2022, Bilas spilled the beans on Coach K's "craziest" pre-game ritual in an interview with ESPN.
"He did a lot of crazy stuff before a game," Bilas said about Coach K's antics. "In my freshman year, we were playing Louisville and they went to the Final Four that year. We had some ups and downs during the course of the early season, and we were waiting for his pre-game speech, and the lights went out.
"And all of a sudden we see this flickering light coming down the hallway. He's got a candle in front of his face. So, all you could see was his face in this pitch darkness. And all he said was, 'I came not to praise Louisville, but to bury them,' and blew the candle out.
"Then, all the guys started jumping and screaming and we ran out on the court. We had a great first half and then they kicked our a** in the second half."
Bilas played at Duke from 1982 to 1986. The Dallas Mavericks drafted him in the fifth round in 1986, but he never played in the NBA. In 1989, Bilas returned to Duke, but as an assistant coach. He was part of Coach K's staff that helped the Blue Devils win national titles in 1991 and 1992.
Bilas then ventured into broadcasting, while Coach K went on to win three more national titles at Duke before retiring in 2022.
Jay Bilas urges college basketball to adopt NBA style and have four quarters in a game
Jay Bilas was on the call for the Florida vs. Alabama regular season game last week when he said that the NCAA should adopt a four-quarter game like the NBA.
"The rules that need to change — we need to go to quarters," Bilas said. "We're the only game of basketball played in the world that doesn't have quarters. The reason I like it is because you can reset team fouls at the end of the first and third quarters. It's just a smart thing to do."
Basketball games in the NCAA consist of two halves, with 20 minutes each. However, Bilas wants the games to have four quarters of 10 minutes each.