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"Kyle is all about winning — that's why he'll wind up being one of the top two or three kids in the history of our program and in the history of the NCAA," Krzyzewski said recently. "He'll be one of the top four or five players to ever play here, as far as the credentials. When you win a national championship during your four years, you already set yourself apart."

Krzyzewski calls Smith "one of the most unusual great players we've had" because he was only occasionally in the starting lineup during his first two seasons. Smith was a change-of-pace reserve behind Greg Paulus and Jon Scheyer, starting only once as a freshman and 21 times as a sophomore before blossoming last year during the Blue Devils' title run.

"I can't really think of anybody like that in our history," Krzyzewski said. "Laettner was always good. Johnny (Dawkins) was always good. (J.J.) Redick, I mean, really good. ... Nolan's ascent to being one of the top players to play in a Duke uniform has been kind of unusual and really remarkable."