WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Krzyzewski aghast at empty seats, urges Duke fans to attend

By Dane Huffman

Nov 6, 2008

Durham, N.C. — Hundreds, even thousands, of seats were empty Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, prompting Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski to urge fans who have tickets to attend – or let him sell their empty seats.

Duke beat Lenoir-Rhyne 95-42 Wednesday in an exhibition game. The official attendance for Wednesday night was 9,314 – Cameron is sold out for the season – but the actual attendance was about three-fourths of that.

“We should remind all our Duke fans we start our season on Monday,” Krzyzewski said of the Blue Devils' opener with Presbyterian. “Every game counts. If you’re not going to come, let us know and we’ll sell the seats.

“I’ll go sell them. I know I can sell them. If you’re not coming,  I’ll go sell them. ‘Preciate the support of the students who were here, but I want us to understand that people want to come to games.”

Krzyzewski said he was even willing to go sell tickets himself if necessary.

“I’ll go hawk it, man,” Krzyzewski said. “People should be coming.”

The issue is a sensitive one for Krzyzewski, who worked hard in his early years to establish a great atmosphere at Cameron. Duke games are always sold out, but some fans, and even Duke students, have failed to show up with their previous devotion. Duke student leaders tried to address that last season with a new ticket distribution system that allowed students to sign up online.

Whatever the issues, Krzyzewski is eager to see Duke fans back at Cameron in force, and he spent much of his postgame news conference addressing the issue.

“Look, I’m hungry. Our team is hungry,” he said. “Let’s go after it. Let’s go after it by getting a good atmosphere. We could be better, but it’s a group thing. It can t be just a TV thing. …

“I know we can fill this place up. Every game. Every game. It’s a matter of working at it. …

“I’ve seen it, and I’ve been here a long time. People are knocking down the door to get in here.”