Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski did the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference a favor when he suspended Grayson Allen last week for his third tripping incident in the past two seasons.
Allen, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, is the latest Blue Devils player we all love to hate, going all the way back to Christian Laettner. The Player of the Year candidate stuck his leg out and intentionally tripped an Elon player in a victory Dec. 21. Not the worst thing in the world.
But it also happened twice without penalty. This time, Krzyzewski suspended Allen indefinitely the following day. After reviewing video, the Hall of Fame coach also saw Allen's outburst on the bench. He couldn't control his emotions.
Now Duke opens conference play without its best player — and it is uncertain when he will return. "The incident was unacceptable and inexcusable," Krzyzewski said in a statement.
That was one of the biggest story lines in nonconference play, simply because of its bizarre nature. But the ACC saw a second blue-blood program receive negative attention the same day.
North Carolina released a third notice of allegations from the NCAA in connection with an academic fraud scandal first filed in 2015. Football and men's basketball were once cleared of potential penalties, but now they are under the microscope again.
Tar Heels coach Roy Williams showed his frustration, telling reporters after a victory against Northern Iowa Dec. 21: "I'm tired of this junk. … I'd hoped the NCAA thing would be over before I retired, and now I'm hoping that it will be over before I die."
Duke and North Carolina have historically been the ACC's bread and butter. They aren't squeaky clean. But neither is the conference's next-best team, Louisville, rocked by scandal of its own last year when reports surfaced of sex parties for recruits paid by a member of Rick Pitino's staff.
