When Duke takes the floor in South Carolina on Friday afternoon for their first-round matchup against Cal State Fullerton in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, former Dukie and current ACC analyst Carlos Boozer will be one of many Blue Devils fans watching to see if outgoing coach Mike Krzyzewski can take the first step towards winning a sixth national championship to cap off his legendary career.
However, unlike some Duke fans who will be tuning into the early March Madness action, 40-year-old Boozer won’t be recovering from a vasectomy.
Strange but true, nets aren’t the only things that get snipped more often this month, as up to 30% more men who want a vasectomy choose to get the procedure done in March so they can recover on the couch while watching the NCAA tournament. “Vasectomy appointments during the week leading up to the tournament are always booked up months in advance — and this year is no different,” said Dr. Joshua Gonzalez, a board-certified urologist based in Los Angeles.
Boozer, a two-time NBA All-Star who won an NCAA championship during his time at Duke, wasn’t aware of the connection before he partnered up with SAXX to promote their urologist-recommended underwear, but now he thinks the link seems logical enough.
“It makes sense to me,” he tells InsideHook. “If I’m going to get a vasectomy, why not do it during the tournament? I can sit down, watch basketball, be comfortable on the couch and just enjoy recovery. I mean, I would consider it. I have three awesome sons who are in high school and a daughter who is about to turn three. I’m blessed I didn’t do it before having my daughter but now I’m totally done having kids. I’ll think about it.”
In addition to thinking about his future, Boozer is spending some time pondering what may lie ahead for Coach K. “It’s so odd. Even though I know it’s his last season, I still can’t imagine college basketball without Coach K. But I mean, he’s been coaching at Duke longer than I’ve been alive and I’m 40 years old,” Boozer says. “Roy Williams just retired and now we’re going to lose Coach K. When Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, Leonard Hamilton and the rest of these guys will walk away, it’ll be a new generation for college basketball. It’s very surreal. I’m so used to seeing Coach on the sideline.”
In Boozer’s opinion, Krzyzewski could be there a bit longer than some basketball pundits have predicted as he expects Duke, a No. 2 seed, to stay in the Big Dance for a while, possibly until the music stops.
“I think that being the No. 2 is good for them because their first two games are going to be in South Carolina, which will basically be home games for them. It’s right down the street from Duke,” Boozer says. “That’s good because this group is under pressure no other Duke team has faced. It’s Coach K’s last season, so every game for them has been magnified. Being Duke, they’re already getting the other team’s A-game. Personally, I feel like it’s good for them. Coach K has 42 years of experience, but it’s this group’s first experience together in the tournament. The pressure on these guys is huge. But I think what they’ve been through this season is preparing them for these last six games and this last stretch of basketball. I think they’re prepared. If they can lock up their defense, they may actually make a really deep run and send Coach K off with the championship.”
To Boozer, who actually placed a $50,000 bet on the Blue Devils and will win $600,000 if Duke gets it done, sending Krzyzewski off with a storybook ending would be a fitting way to cap his career. “I had a phenomenal mom and dad and Coach K is the only other person that felt like that sort of parental figure to me,” he says. “He’s a family man who has touched so many people’s lives, not just basketball players. He’s just a great guy. It’ll be weird when he’s gone, but his legacy will live on for a very long time.”
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