Coach K praises the New England Revolution for hiring Jay Heaps

Fresh off setting the college basketball wins record with 903, Coach K praised the Revs for hiring his former player, who he believes will bring the team back to winning

Nov 16, 2011 5:32:00 PM

By Alex Labidou

More On :  New England Revolution, Jay Heaps
Coach K-Duke
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Fresh off setting the mark for the most-ever Division I college basketball victories with 903, it would be safe to assume that Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski's mind might not be on soccer.

However, the 64-year-old coach was full of praise for the New England Revolution, who hired Jay Heaps, one of his former players, as their new head coach.

"I'm really excited about Jay becoming a head coach. There is no one who has a combination of spirit, energy, charisma and talent like he does," Krzyzewski told RevolutionSoccer.net.

Krzyzewski recruited Heaps as a walk-on, and the coach was immediately impressed by the young player's demeanor. Heaps played under the coach for three years from 1996 to 1999.

"I loved coaching him. He was a walk-on for our basketball team because he was an All-American soccer player but everyone on our team always followed what he had to say," he said.  

New England tied Vancouver as Major League Soccer's worst team this season with 28 points. It is expected that the team will enter a rebuilding phase, but Coach K believes that Heaps is the right man to lead the team back to its glory days.

"I see him bringing that same type of energy and using his charisma to bring back a storied program," Krzyzewski explained.

"He is an outstanding leader. For management to have the confidence in such a young guy, they saw a special guy, I think it will pay off greatly. Good luck Jay."

If Heaps is anything like his former coach, Revs fans should be encouraged for the club's future.

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Here is video of Coach K talking about Heaps.

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