The Legends Club

February 8, 2016
Renowned sportswriter Feinstein has produced an engaging, mostly chronological history of three college basketball coaching icons and rivals, all from Atlantic Coast Conference universities within a mere 25 miles of one another. In 1980, new North Carolina State University basketball coach Jim Valvano shared his strategy for competing against Dean Smith, already a legend in the making as coach of the University of North Carolina: “I’ll never outcoach Dean Smith, but maybe I can outlive him.” Thirteen years later, Valvano was dead from bone cancer; he became even more famous posthumously. Smith coached until 1997, developing advanced dementia in retirement and dying in early 2015. That makes longtime Duke University coach Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewski the only surviving member of the triumvirate. Feinstein, who has covered college hoops most famously in 1986’s A Season on the Brink, relies on years of unprecedented personal access, input from the widows of Valvano and Smith, former colleagues, and—most heavily—Coach K himself to tell this story with dignity and respect. Feinstein’s long history with these coaches gives him intimate knowledge of his subjects, allowing him to provide an insider’s perspective that likely will be new even to ACC aficionados.

February 1, 2016
A veteran sportswriter returns with an account of the basketball wars--on- and off-court--among three iconic coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Feinstein (Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life in the Minor Leagues of Baseball, 2014, etc.), who also writes columns (Washington Post, Golf Digest) and appears on broadcasts of sporting events, proceeds more or less chronologically from 1980, when Mike "Coach K" Krzyzewski began his career at Duke University and Jim Valvano began at North Carolina State. The author charts the rises and falls of the three teams--Duke, North Carolina, and North Carolina State--and, eventually, the deaths of two of his principals--Valvano in 1993 and UNC coach Dean Smith in 2015. Feinstein's affection for the three is patent throughout, no more so than in his accounts of the deaths of the two late coaches. But he can barely restrain his admiration (and fondness) for Krzyzewski, whose accomplishments he chronicles with almost a family member's devotion. (In the acknowledgements, the author notes his close friendship with Coach K.) Feinstein goes into detail about some key games, delves into the biographies of some of the players, and generally becomes swept away at times by the tidal power of his own affections--perhaps most evidently (and excessively) in his cliched final sentence that claims that the stories of these three "will undoubtedly live forever." To his credit, the author informs his narrative with myriads of interviews with all of his principals--and with those who have survived them--and enriches all with his deep knowledge and love of the game. He navigates through the murky waters of recruiting and explains how certain rules have affected the game--e.g., the 45-second shot clock, the fairly recent NBA ruling that forbids young men to enter the draft right out of high school. A text that will delight college basketball fans but also raises tacit questions about the effects of big-time athletics on a university's academic mission.

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Starred review from March 1, 2016

Sportswriter Feinstein (Where Nobody Knows Your Name) explores the rivalry and relationship among three coaches--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Dean Smith, North Carolina State University's Jim Valvano, and Duke University's Mike Krzyzewski--both on and off the court. Extensively researched with interviews from players, colleagues, family, and Krzyzewski himself, the book traces how these legendary coaches led their teams to eight NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) championships, highlighting winning seasons, major games, milestones, and iconic plays. The author points out each coach's triumphs as well as their defeats. For example, Krzyzewski met early criticism at Duke as the team struggled to win games, while an academic scandal and NCAA investigation resulted in Valvano's resignation from North Carolina State. The heart of the title is the evolution of their relationships: the professional bond between Krzyzweski and Valvano morphed into brotherly love as Valvano battled cancer; and the tense, contemptuous relationship between Krzyzweski and Smith transitioned into one of respect over time. Although Johnny Moore and Art Chansky's The Blue Divide and Joe Menzer's Four Corners have previously covered these Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) rivals, Feinstein's volume adds depth to these coaches that extends beyond games and recruiting. VERDICT A must for college basketball history fans, especially those fascinated by the ACC.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2016
Feinstein, dean of the college-basketball press for decades now, reconstructs a golden age of North Carolina hoops, starting around 1980, when Dean Smith was still looking for his first national title with UNC, Jim Valvano was a wisecracking upstart from Queens just looking for respect for his N.C. State program, and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski was, well, just Mike Krzyzewski and not yet Coach K, deity. Quoting generously from interviews with all three coaches, including the late Smith and Valvano ( Fortunately, I'm a hoarder, Feinstein explains), the author details their personal stories and the ferocious battles their teams waged en route to national titles each would eventually win. As a history, this accountlike pretty much any Feinstein bookis a no-brainer for the sports collection. Still, readers looking for a strong sense of how each icon specifically inspired and developed his playerswhether on-court basketball skills, or an overarching philosophy of the game, or of lifemight be disappointed. After all, it's still the players who play the game, right?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)