The way Bill Jackman tells the story, Mike Krzyzewski had driven to Grant, Neb., to get Jackman's signature on a national letter of intent to play basketball at Duke and needed to get out of town quickly.
It was the national signing date in 1982, Jackman said, and the Duke coach had other stops to make, the Jackman house being the first at breakfast. He had the long drive to Denver, Colo., and a flight to catch, with little time to spare.
Running a little late, Jackman said, Krzyzewski was speeding out of town and ...
"The sheriff pulled him over," Jackman said in a News & Observer interview Wednesday. "Coach K said, 'Uh, oh, if this is a Nebraska fan I've had it.' The sheriff said he was going like 80 in a 55.
"But Coach K said he knew he was going to be OK when he saw the officer's name tag was like "Officer Kedrowski.' He told him he had just signed me and the officer saw his name was 'Krzyzewski.' The officer goes, 'Hey, there aren't many of us out here in this neck of the woods. Just slow it down and I'll give you a warning.' "
Maybe it was at that moment, on the side of the road outside Grant, Neb., that Krzyzewski, coming off an 11-17 season at Duke, needing a strong recruiting class to possibly save his job, could sense things were finally turning in his favor. All it took was a trip to Grant, Jackman signing and a sheriff with a sense of humor and Polish background.
Jackman was an early commitment to Duke despite nearly everyone in the state of Nebraska wanting the 6-8 forward to go to the University of Nebraska. After his senior season, a petition with 14,000 names was presented to Jackman, pleading that stay-home case.
But Jackman became the first member of what became the Duke class of 1986. He would join Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas, David Henderson and Weldon Williams in a recruiting class that was ranked No. 1 in 1982, a group that would win the 1986 ACC championship and take Coach K and Duke to the top of the polls, the No. 1 team in the country, going into the 1986 NCAA Tournament.
