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UNC riled for nothing: Coach K was misquoted

Radio station admits botching comment by Duke coach about injuries

  Mike Miller's college hoops blog
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updated 12:06 a.m. ET March 4, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C. - The tiff between North Carolina coach Roy Williams and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski over injury reports was apparently just a misunderstanding.

The program director at Raleigh sports talk radio station WRBZ-AM said Monday the station incorrectly attributed comments to Krzyzewski last month that upset Williams and led him to respond on his own radio show.

"I'm sorry the quote was incorrect," said Adam Gold, who also co-hosts the station's morning show. "I couldn't be more sorry that it has gotten to this."

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The station had posted on its Web site a transcript of an interview between Krzyzewski and Duke broadcaster Bob Harris after the Blue Devils' loss at Wake Forest. The station reported that Krzyzewski said freshman Nolan Smith was playing through a knee injury, then said: "Unlike other schools, we don't release our injuries."

Krzyzewski said Monday during a conference call with reporters that he never said "unlike other schools" and said he wasn't trying to provoke anyone when making his comments.

Williams felt the comment was a jab at his injury-riddled Tar Heels, who lost point guard Ty Lawson for six games with a sprained ankle. While not referring to Krzyzewski by name, Williams replied to his reported comments by saying an unnamed person should "coach their own damn team, I'll coach my team."

Gold said a reliable source at Duke e-mailed him the quote after hearing the topic being discussed on the station. Audio of the interview was not immediately available, but Gold said the station learned several days later that the quote was inaccurate after hearing the audio clip.

"In my opinion, I'd consider that to be an honest mistake," Gold said.

In an audio clip of the interview provided by Duke, Krzyzewski said: "(Smith) has not been playing well the last couple of weeks. Again, he hyperextended his knee. You know, we don't put out all our injuries, you know, but we're injured too, you know. I mean everyone's injured."

Top-ranked North Carolina travels to No. 6 Duke on Saturday to close the regular season and determine the ACC's regular-season champion.

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