DURHAM., N.C. — Duke basketball gets its 2026-27 season underway against Army on Monday, Nov. 2 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, where the Blue Devils will honor the late Chris Spatola before tipoff.

Duke will have a moment of silence before 6:30 p.m. tipoff while players will wear warmup shirts in honor of Spatola. The coaching staff will have Spatola's initials, CS, on the bottom of their right sleeves.

Spatola, a former Army basketball standout, U.S. Army veteran, Duke staff member and son-in-law of Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, died on Sept. 21 at age 47.

"Chris Spatola came to Duke the year I was a freshman, so I've known Chris for about 20 years," Jon Scheyer said on Sept. 24. "I think if you asked anybody over the last 20 years that's touched our program, they'd tell you what a smart – he's brilliant actually – what a smart, funny, charismatic person that Chris was. And for me, I'm heartbroken for our Duke family, and obviously most importantly, his family and the Krzyzewski family, this Spatola family."

As Duke prepares to honor Spatola ahead of its season-opening matchup, here's what to know about Spatola.

Chris Spatola starred at Army and served in the U.S. Army

Spatola was a four-year starting point guard at Army from 1998-2002. He led the Patriot League in minutes per game during each of his final three seasons and paced the conference in free-throw percentage during his final two years.

After graduating from West Point in 2002, Spatola served five years in the U.S. Army, including assignments stateside and overseas during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He rose to the rank of captain and received both the Joint Service Commendation Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

Chris Spatola helped Duke basketball win a national championship

Spatola married Krzyzewski's daughter, Jamie, in June 2004. Following his military service, he joined Krzyzewski's staff in 2007, first as a graduate assistant before being quickly promoted to director of basketball operations.

During his five seasons with the Blue Devils, Spatola helped Duke capture the 2010 NCAA championship and four ACC Tournament titles.

He also served as a court coach alongside Krzyzewski with Team USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 FIBA World Championship, helping the United States win gold medals in both events.

Spatola and Jamie have three children: John David, Mackenzie and Madeline.

From Duke basketball to ESPN

After leaving Duke, Spatola built a successful career in sports media.

He joined ESPN as a college basketball analyst in 2015 and spent 11 years with the network. He also worked as a basketball analyst and radio host for SiriusXM.

Following Spatola's death, ESPN remembered him as "thoughtful, prepared and passionate about the sport."