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Opening Arguments

The certainty principle

Bobby Knight is railing against one-and-done, the phenomenon of graduating high school players who join an NCAA team for just one season before going on to the NBA. Nobody much likes it, but other coaches realize they have to deal with it:

My guess is that Coach K doesn't like the one-and-done rule more than Knight, Calipari, Roy Williams, Rick Pitino or other college coaches. Other than the NBA Players Association, I don't know many who do like the rule.

Unlike Knight, Coach K understands that life is a continuous series of adjustments. You defend as many core principles as possible. But sometimes you change when the world and culture shift around you.

That is one reason Krzyzewski (65) has remained relevant into his golden years -- and why Knight went 2-6 during the NCAA Tournament over his final six seasons at Indiana. Kelvin Sampson caused the fall of Indiana basketball. But the rust started forming during the end of the Knight Era.

"You defend as many core principles as possible. But sometimes you change when the world and culture shift around you." Interesting statement of life philosophy. It's a balancing act, though, isn't it? Some, like Knight, don't find the right balance because their core principles are too important to them and they can't even imagine changing. Others are out of balance because they're so willing to change with the world that it's hard to find their core principles. I think I'm probably closer to the latter than the former, which might sound strange coming from an editorial writer. I remember writing once years ago that the older I get the fewer things I'm certain of but the more certain I am of them. I'd still say that today.

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