Mike Krzyzewski. Many people have no idea who he is or how to spell or pronounce his last name (try saying that five times fast). Others know who he is, but still struggle to pronounce or spell his name (in the course of writing this, I doubled checked the spelling of his name at least 10 times). On Tuesday November 15, 2011, he became the all-time leader with 903 wins in division 1 men’s basketball. His Duke Blue Devils beat the Michigan State Spartans 74-69 in the first game of the State Farm Champions Classic. It is fitting that it happened in the most famous and recognizable basketball arena in the United States, the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York.
Mike Krzyzewski (is known to many as Coach K for obvious reasons) is entering his 37th season coaching. He spent five years at his alma matter Army. He compiled a 73-59 record there and led them to one berth in the NIT tournament. Then he accepted the Duke head coaching job and has never looked back. He rebuilt the program for a couple of seasons, before it became a national contender each and every year. The one exception to that was the 1994-95 season. He began the year 9-3, but had back surgery and missed the rest of the season. Top assistant, Pete Gaudet, took over for the rest of the year. Duke’s season spiraled out of control after that. They went 4-15 in his absence. According to tradition, the head coach is credited with the wins and losses even if he is not there. Duke did it differently and gave Pete Gaudet credit for the wins. This caused a great deal of controversy where people thought that Coach K should be credited with the wins. Earlier this year the NCAA president, Mark Emmert, agreed with them and credited Coach K with the wins. This put his total record at 904-298. Yet, when he beat Michigan State, he was credited with his 903rd win, passing his former coach at Army, Bob Knight. Either way you look at it, he definitely owns the record for the most wins in NCAA men’s basketball history.
Over his coaching career he and his teams have won quite a few awards. His teams have won 12 regular season Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championships and 13 ACC tournament championships. His teams have made it to the NCAA tournament 26 times, and this year will make it 27. He has 19 Sweet Sixteens, 12 Elite Eights, and an incredible 11 Final Fours. He has reached the National Championship on eight different occasions and has won four of them (1991, 1992, 2001, and 2010). He has had 12 number one seeds in the NCAA tournament. His teams have had 12 30-win seasons. His teams have been ranked number one in 15 out of his 26 seasons coaching. These are all incredible numbers. Coach K has won 11 different coach of the year awards by multiple organizations.
He does not just coach Duke. He has been an assistant on many USA national teams involved in different world tournaments. In 2005, he was named men’s national basketball coach through the Beijing Olympics. Since then, the US team has a 75-1 record through the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The team has received three gold medals and a bronze at multiple different world tournaments, including gold at the 2008 summer Olympics.
Krzyzewski has received offers from NBA teams, but has turned down all four of them. He could have coached the Celtics, Lakers, Trailblazers, and Nets in that order. Coach K could have received 2 or 3 times more money than what he was getting paid to coach Duke, but still declined. If he would have accepted any of the offers, he would probably never break any of these records. A great example is Rick Pitino, who has over 600 wins, but left for the NBA. Now he is back in college basketball and has no chance of getting to that milestone. Because Krzyzewski stayed, he is basically a lock to be the only division one men’s basketball coach with over 1000 wins. He still trails Pat Summitt (the coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers) by 170 wins and counting.
I am not trying to give him all of the credit. He has had very talented players to coach as well. 23 of them have been selected in the first round of the NBA Draft including 10 in the top ten of the draft. He has had nine players win player of the year and 9 other players win national player of the year. He has coached 26 All-Americans. These numbers are ridiculous. He is known as one of the best recruiters in college basketball based off of all of the top high school players that he has signed.
Even after all of this, he insists that he is focused on developing this year’s team. During the game, ESPN interviewed a few of his former players that were attending the game, and they did not have a bad thing to say about him. There were over 30 former players present with their families all sitting in one section supporting their coach. After winning number 903 (or 907) he went to his wife, three kids, and grandchildren in the stands. The game ball was handed to him, where he says it will be enshrined in the Duke Hall of Fame. He met with his mentor, Bob Knight, who had previously coached him at Army in Krzyzewski’s playing days. He was the previous record-holder at 902 wins and is a current ESPN announcer who was calling the game. He gave a brief interview before meeting up with his team, who were all wearing hats or shirts that said 903 on them. It was great to be watching as the history books were rewritten. College basketball has made many changes throughout the years, but the one constant has been Coach Krzyzewski never missing an opportunity to be able to teach his players and lead them to success.
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