Duke director of operations Nolan Smith has gotten attention for his work for social justice. Coach Mike Krzyzewski talks about his former player and current staff member.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Huge, you know, Nolan, whether it be in college or in the pros, he's got it, not just talent,
00:13he has it, the personality, the people skills, the organizational skills, and they still
00:21think he's the mayor here of Duke, you know, from when he played, and the people's champ,
00:29but, you know, Dana, he's done an amazing job during this pandemic and with all the
00:35social unrest and that, and actually we have a Brotherhood Zoom tonight with all of our
00:40former players and, you know, the stuff that we've done as a result of that, Nolan kind
00:47of started that, and in our community, he's like the Pied Piper, I've recruited him not
00:54just to be on my staff, but we have an amazing place in Durham, the Emily Krzyzewski Center,
01:00it's 15 years old, and it really reaches a couple thousand kids in our community, and
01:07I recruited him to be on our board, because I thought that he could connect, we have a
01:14very diverse board, it's an unbelievable one of about 20 people, but he really connects
01:20with people, and, you know, it's unlimited, the potential for him, he's gonna be a real
01:31early head coach at a college or university, or I could see him being in the pros too,
01:42and he's just got it, he's got it, and he's been able to do more because of, and his job
01:51is the Director of Basketball Operations, during this pandemic, they've kept me away
01:59where, you know, it gives him an opportunity to work with the kids too, and he's got it,
02:08you know, he's gotten a lot of offers already from different people, I said, just hold tight,
02:16man, and he has a beautiful family, they're expecting their, Cameron's a little girl they
02:21have, and they're expecting a little baby boy, I have a feeling the odds are in favor of them
02:30naming him after his dad, and they just got his wife, Shana's a former Air Force officer,
02:37so they'll have a, he'll have that team, I think in order to be really successful as a coach in
02:44this game, whether it be the woman and the man, or the man and the woman, depending on who the
02:50coach is, it's got to be a team, and he's got that already also.