Michael Krzyzewski

Michael
Krzyzewski

Coach K became the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history, passing his mentor Bob Knight, with a 74-69 win over Michigan State on Nov. 15, 2011. In 2015, Krzyzewski became the first Division I men’s basketball coach to reach 1,000 career wins with Duke defeating St. John’s 77-86 at Madison Square Garden.

But most impressive are the five National Championships (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 and 2015) that make Coach K one of only two coaches in NCAA history to earn five or more NCAA titles. In addition to Krzyzewski, only John Wooden (10) has accomplished that feat. With back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992, Coach K became the first coach since Wooden in 1972-73 to earn consecutive NCAA crowns. The Blue Devils grabbed their third title in 2001 with an 82-72 win over Arizona in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Duke defeated Butler, 61-59, in the 2010 championship game in Indianapolis, Indiana to give Krzyzewski his fourth NCAA Championship. In the 2015 championship game, Duke defeated Wisconsin 68-63 in Indianapolis, Indiana to give Krzyzewski his fifth NCAA Championship title.

Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils have been a fixture on the national basketball scene, and Krzyzewski is the winningest active coach in NCAA Tournament play. He also ranks first in NCAA Tournament history in wins and games. From 1999-2002, Duke finished number one in the nation in the final Associated Press poll for a record four consecutive seasons. In 2003-04, the Blue Devils reached the nation’s top spot in the AP poll, marking the seventh straight year they had been number one (only UCLA’s string of 12 consecutive years reaching No. 1 from 1964-75 was longer). Krzyzewski has mentored National Players of the Year, All-Americans, ACC Players of the Year and All-ACC selections during his tenure at Duke. In the past several years, four different Blue Devils—Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Jason Williams (twice) and J.J. Redick (twice)—have earned National Player of the Year honors.

Coach K has coached NBA Draft picks, including a record of first round selections. An NCAA-best 17 Blue Devils have been NBA Lottery picks with Elton Brand (1999) and Kyrie Irving (2011) being taken No. 1 overall in their respective drafts.

Krzyzewski earned his 900th career victory on March 20, 2011 with a 73-71 win over Michigan in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. On March 1, 2008, Krzyzewski became the sixth coach in Division I history to reach 800 wins with an 87-86 victory at N.C. State. Coach K became just the fifth coach in NCAA history to record 800 wins at one school with a win over Kansas State on Nov. 23, 2010. On Nov. 17, 2000, Krzyzewski earned his 500th win at Duke with a 98-85 triumph over Villanova. That night, the fabled floor of Cameron Indoor Stadium was dedicated as Coach K Court. On Feb. 13, 2010, Krzyzewski became the eighth coach in Division I history to coach 1,000 games at one school.

In all, Coach K has been named the National Coach of the Year 12 times in eight different seasons, including Basketball Times, UPI and Chevrolet (1986), Naismith (1989), the NABC (1991), The Sporting News and Naismith (1992), Basketball Times (1997), the NABC and Naismith (1999), Chevrolet (2000) and the Victor Awards (2001). He was named Coach of the Decade for the 1990s by the NABC and was the second recipient of the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award. On October 5, 2001, Coach K was presented by his college coach Bob Knight as one of three members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2001.

Krzyzewski was named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 5, 2011. In 1992, The Sporting News named him the Sportsman of the Year, becoming the first college coach to win the honor. Krzyzewski also received another prestigious honor in 2001 as he was named “America’s Best Coach” by TIME and CNN.

On the court, Coach K has averaged more than 25 wins a season during his career at Duke. The Blue Devils have won at least 30 games in 11 of the past 22 seasons. He directed his teams to nine straight trips to the NCAA Sweet 16 from 1998-2006, as well as joining Wooden as the only coach to guide a team to the Final Four five consecutive years.

Krzyzewski added to his already impressive list of accomplishments on Oct. 26, 2005 when he was named head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team program for 2006-2008. With Krzyzewski at the helm, Team USA won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics with a 118-107 victory over Spain. In the summer of 2007, he guided the USA squad to a gold medal victory and an unblemished 10-0 record in the FIBA Americas Championship. Krzyzewski has been honored by USA Basketball as the National Coach of the Year four times.

On July 21, 2009, he resumed his role as head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team through 2012. Coach K guided Team USA to a 9-0 record and gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championships. Krzyzewski guided Team USA to an 8-0 and a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics to become the first coach since Henry Iba (1964 and 1968) to lead the program to back-to-back Olympic gold medals. Coach K posted a 62-1 record as head coach of Team USA, including 50 straight wins to close out his tenure leading the program.