Duke Basketball: Mike Krzyzewski taking leave of absence, could miss January

DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 2 (UPI) -- An unruly Grayson Allen is the least of Mike Krzyzewski current ailments.

The legendary Duke basketball coach will have lower back surgery Friday to remove a fragment of a herniated disk, according to the school.

Dr. Allan Friedman at Duke University Hospital will perform the surgery. Recovery time is set for up to four weeks.

"Dr. William Richardson, Dr. Friedman, and our medical team have worked tirelessly to help manage this issue for several weeks," Krzyzewski said in a statement. "Together, we have determined that surgery is the best course of action at this time. During my recovery process, the team will be in the capable hands of Coach Capel, Coach James and Coach Scheyer. As soon as the doctors clear me to do so, I look forward to returning and giving our team 100% of my energy and attention, which is certainly something that they deserve."

Associate head coach Jeff Capel will coach the Blue Devils in Krzyzewski's absence. His first game will be Jan. 7 against Boston College at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Krzyzewski is the winningest coach in Division I men's basketball history, with 1,055 victories. He has also led the Blue Devils to five NCAA championships, the second-most ever. He has six gold medals from coaching the United States National Team and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Krzyzewski missed his first game since 1995 in February 2015 because of an illness. The Blue Devils [12-2] were already hampered by the suspension of All-American Grayson Allen. Now it will enter its second week of ACC play without its leader.