'There's a symmetry to it': Duke's Coach K begins final season at Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK — Wendell Moore does not have the same fond memories of Madison Square Garden as his head coach. 

It's been three years since he made his Duke debut at the world's most famous basketball arena against Kansas — a welcome-to-college-basketball experience where he hit 1-of-6 shots and struggled to a two-point outing in 12 minutes of play. 

"If I'm being honest, my first game was not my best experience," the now junior forward said while laughing. "But it is something I've always remembered and I'm excited to go back with a chance to redeem myself."

For Mike Krzyzewski, there is no redemption necessary when he enters The Garden on Tuesday for the final time as Duke's basketball coach. Like most arenas in his career, he's left his mark.

Since becoming Duke's coach in 1980, Coach K has posted a 33-11 record at Madison Square Garden and a 9-3 mark over the last decade against the likes of Kansas, Texas Tech, Florida, Arizona, UCLA, VCU and Georgetown. 

But it's also a place that has played host to some of Coach K's most historic moments over a career that has spanned five decades and six national championships.

"It gives you chills to bring your team here," Krzyzewski said in 2015. "Whether it's basketball, hockey, tennis, you are on the big stage here and it's something you never forget. It's not just athletes, people come here to perform at their best."

Krzyzewski's first trip to The Garden came as a young West Point cadet, playing under legendary head coach Bobby Knight in 1968 where the Black Knights lost to Notre Dame in the NIT.

Forty-three years later, Coach K's Duke team beat Michigan State on Nov. 16, 2011, for victory No. 903, the one that made him the winningest coach in Division I history, passing his former college coach.

He also won his 1,000th career game at MSG with a 77-68 victory over St. Johns four years later.

Not bad for a Chicago kid in the Big Apple.

"There's a symmetry to it, to start the season off in his last year coaching (at MSG)," ESPN analyst and former Duke assistant Jay Bilas said. "People may differ with this, but I think it's kind of neat that we know it's going to be his last year. We have a year to celebrate his place in the game and I don't think it will take away from the team or the players he's coaching or the games he's coaching in. I think it will add to it."