Chris Spatola scored 1,543 points at West Point. Fifth most in the history of the academy. Then he graduated, put on the other uniform, and went to war. He served five years as an Army officer. He was a company commander. He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and he came home with the Joint Service Commendation Medal, awarded for what the citation called exceptional combat performance. Then he came back to basketball. In 2007, Mike Krzyzewski hired him at Duke. There is something in that worth sitting with. Krzyzewski played point guard at Army from 1966 to 1969. Captained the team as a senior. Then served in the Army and was discharged as a captain. Spatola played guard at Army from 1998 to 2002. Then served in the Army and made captain too. Two West Point guards, 33 years apart, on the same bench. Spatola was on the Duke staff from 2007 to 2012. Four ACC Tournament titles. The 2010 national championship. He was a court coach for USA Basketball, for the team that won gold in Beijing in 2008 and gold at the world championship in 2010. He also married Krzyzewski's daughter Jamie. They had three children. After coaching he went into television. He joined ESPN in 2015 and spent a decade as one of the most thoughtful voices in college basketball, because he had been a player and a coach and a soldier, and he talked like a man who had been all three. He ran a basketball camp for kids in Durham every year. Chris Spatola died unexpectedly this week. He was 47 years old. ESPN said he was thoughtful, prepared and passionate about the sport. The Krzyzewski family said they had no words to adequately express their heartbreak over the loss of "our beloved Chris Spatola," and that he "served our country, was a devoted husband and father, and was such an important part of our family." Seth Greenberg put it shortest. "Heartbreaking. Such a good soul." He leaves behind a wife and three kids.