Jon Scheyer addresses passing of former Duke assistant Chris Spatola, Mike Krzyzewski son-in-law

The unexpected death of veteran ESPN broadcaster and former Duke assistant Chris Spatola on Monday sent shockwaves throughout the entire college basketball world this week. But never more acutely than within the Blue Devils men’s basketball program inside Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. Duke confirmed Spatola’s passing at the age of 47 in a statement released Tuesday, expressing condolences to his entire family. Spatola is survived by his three children and wife, Jamie, the daughter of legendary Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his wife, Mickie. [ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ] On Thursday, fifth-year Duke head coach Jon Scheyer opened his press conference by addressing Spatola’s passing and sharing memories of what the former Blue Devils assistant meant to him. Spatola, who played college basketball at Army and served on active duty from 2002-07, spent six years (2007-12) on Duke’s coaching staff under Krzyzewski, including all four of Scheyer’s years as a player. “We’ve lost a great member of our Duke family [over] the last couple of days. And I’ve been fortunate … Chris Spatola came to Duke the year that I was a freshman, so I’ve known Chris for about 20 years,” Scheyer said, via the Duke basketball X/Twitter account. “And I think if you asked anybody over the last 20 years that’s touched our program, they’d tell you what a smart – brilliant, actually – funny, charismatic person that Chris was. For me, I’m heartbroken for our Duke family, and obviously and most importantly his family – the Krzyzewski family, the Spatola family. “Chris was the guy after we lost to Villanova in the [2009] Sweet Sixteen that hugged me and told me we’ll be back and we’re going to win the whole thing, which we did the following year. He’s the guy that texted me when it was announced I was the next Duke head coach [and wrote] I’m built for this,” Scheyer continued. “He’s the guy that’s come every preseason to watch a practice and afterwards I always looked forward to, unsolicited, me and him would always talk about just concerns he saw for the team, what really surprised and impressed him. And I always loved and looked forward to those conversations in the preseason. So, most importantly, everybody associated with our program, our hearts and minds are on Jamie and the kids, Coach K, his entire family, and obviously the amazing person that Chris was.” Multiple friends and colleagues, both at Duke and ESPN, also released heartfelt statements on Tuesday, including a joint statement from the Krzyzewski family: “There are no words to adequately express our heartbreak over the loss of our beloved Chris Spatola. Chris served our country, was a devoted husband and father, and was such an important part of our family,” the Krzyzewski family statement read. “We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, thoughts, and prayers we have received during this incredibly difficult time. We respectfully ask for privacy as our entire family, particularly Jamie and her three beautiful children, grieve and process this unimaginable loss.” — On3’s Daniel Hager contributed to this report.