Not many teams have the pleasure of beating Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke teams, much less knocking one out of the NCAA tournament. But South Carolina coach Frank Martin and the No. 7 seed Gamecocks joined that relatively exclusive club when they handed the Blue Devils an early tournament exit in the second round last weekend.

Even after having a few days to let the victory sink in, Martin still appeared to struggle explaining the emotions associated with beating Duke while on The Dan Patrick Show on Thursday, as South Carolina continues to build on its 22-9 regular-season record.

But as Martin described his thoughts at the end of the second-round game, he told a touching story about Coach K that sheds some light on what type of person the legendary coach is behind closed doors.

Calling it a “twist” in the story of the two coaches, Martin explained how when he lost his coaching job at Miami Senior High School in 1998, he decided to try for a college position.

Via The Dan Patrick Show:

I wrote 120, 140 letters to coaches around the country. One guy sent me a hand-written note back. It was Coach K. And I didn’t even know him back then. He knew who I was because I was part of a very successful high school team, but all that kind of all lumped into that one moment there.

Martin also described the thoughts racing through his mind during the final seconds of the Gamecocks’ win Sunday to advance to the Sweet 16.

He said he realized his team was going to claim victory when he saw Coach K signal to his players not to foul.

More from The Dan Patrick Show:

Everyone thinks that you’re up seven with 20 seconds to go and the game’s over – no. I’m worried about there’s a seven-point play somewhere in that Duke bag that’s going to tie the game. But when I saw him wave his players off, that’s when it hit me.

South Carolina takes on No. 3 seed Baylor in the Sweet 16 on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.