Staff Member Scores Tickets to Coach K’s Final Home Game
Donna Flamion’s four decades of fandom comes full circle with her attending Mike Krzyzewski’s last home game in Cameron
A Duke men’s basketball fan for four decades, Donna Flamion planned to watch coach Mike Krzyzewski's final home game from her comfortable couch at home in Durham.
But two days before the March 5, 2022, tip-off against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Flamion got an unexpected call from her brother, Mark Tippett, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“We have tickets,” Tippett announced.
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” replied Flamion, administrative coordinator for Duke Student Information Services and Systems.
Flamion, who started working at Duke 39 years ago, was in Cameron Indoor Stadium with her brother on Nov. 29, 1980 when Krzyzewski coached his first game at Duke against Stetson. Back then, Krzyzewski had yet to become the legendary coach known today as Coach K.
Now, decades later, Flamion and her brother would sit side-by-side in Section Nine, Row P with 9,312 others for the home farewell, a bookend to Flamion’s story of lifelong respect for Krzyzewski.
“Being in Cameron and feeling the vibes and just floating on the electricity in the air,” Flamion said. “It’s so loud and I’m just thinking, ‘I’m here. I can’t believe I’m here.’”
March 5 was a game day experience Flamion will cherish the rest of her life. Over the years, she has kept nearly every ticket to Duke games as mementos, filling up a case about the size of a shoebox. That’s where her March 5 ticket is for now, but she may frame it.
“When he walked out on the court, it just felt like, ‘this is it,’” Flamion said. “Just standing there and everyone was clapping, knowing it was his last time … it was just emotional.”
As a dedicated Blue Devils fan, her love for Duke Men's Basketball predates Krzyzewski, drawing back to 1977 in her first year at Northern High School in Durham when she watched games on TV with her father, Bill Tippett, a longtime employee of Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company in Durham.
Flamion can rattle off the in-person experiences she’s had following Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils, from ACC and NCAA tournament games to witnessing Coach K’s first home game against the Tar Heels on Feb. 28, 1981, a 66-65 victory in overtime. She was also a season ticketholder from 1982-86, when purchasing one ticket meant you received another free.
Flamion has proudly watched from the stands at least 50 times and caught many others on TV, as Krzyzewski transitioned from newcomer to Hall of Famer, eventually landing as the sport’s all-time leader in wins and capturing five national championships along the way.
No game, she said, compares to witnessing Krzyzewski’s final home game on March. Before tip-off, Flamion and Tippett spent nearly the whole day on campus. Hours before the game, after attending ESPN’s College Gameday, the siblings realized they were walking back alongside former Duke star Shane Battier, one of Flamion’s favorite players. The siblings asked him what he was doing these days and stopped for a moment on the path for a photo.
“We just chatted, and he was just a super classy, nice, down-to-earth, pleasant guy,” Flamion said.
As the doors to Cameron opened at 5 p.m., Flamion and Tippett stood in line, pointing watching as other former players arrived, including Christian Laettner, JJ Redick and Grant Hill. As she players go by, memories flooded back. While watching Krzyzewki over the years, Flamion transitioned from a teenager to adult, established a career at Duke and started a family. Krzyzewski and Duke remained a constant during the change.
After 42 seasons with Coach K, Flamion considered herself lucky to be part of the devoted chorus saying goodbye in Cameron. Even though the game ended in a 94-81 win for the Tar Heels, the historic moment with her younger brother will remain a moment of pride for Flamion, just like being part of the Duke community for the past 39 years.
“We wouldn’t have traded that day that we had together,” Flamion said. “There were lots of laughs – I’ve never laughed so much in a long time. We love sports, and we had a great time hanging out.”
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