Winning seasons, superb graduation rates for his players and a basketball team that is as close as family are all attributes that reflect on the man who is now in his 34th season as the head coach of the Blue Devils, Mike Krzyzewski.
Although some still stumble with pronouncing and spelling his name, when people speak of the highest level of success in the college basketball world, the name Krzyzewski (Sha-shef-skee) immediately comes to mind. Coach K further solidified his status in the upper echelon of coaching on Nov. 15, 2011 when he became the winningest coach in college basketball history with a 74-69 Duke win over Michigan State at Madison Square Garden.
In 33 years at Duke, Krzyzewski, a Hall of Fame coach and 12-time National Coach of the Year, has built a dynasty that few programs in the history of the game can match.Entering the 2010-11 season, Coach K owns an 868-279 record in 35 years of coaching, including a 795-220 mark in 30 seasons in Durham. He is 35 wins shy of becoming the winningest coach in Division I men’s college basketball history.
Entering the 2013-14 season, Coach K owns a 957-297 record in 38 years of coaching, including an 884-238 mark in 33 seasons in Durham. He is already the winningest coach in college basketball history and currently ranks second all-time in wins at one school. Krzyzewski enters the 2013-14 campaign 26 wins shy of becoming the second coach in NCAA history to record 900 wins at one school.
Krzyzewski’s record as Duke’s all-time winningest coach offers evidence of his success, but even more impressive are the four national championships. The fourth title came in 2010 with a 61-59 win over Butler in Indianapolis, while he also led Duke to the championship in 2001 and to back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992, making him one of only two coaches since UCLA’s John Wooden with such an accomplishment. In 2005-06, Krzyzewski passed Wooden to move into first on the chart of coaches who have led their respective schools to a No. 1 national ranking. Coach K has now led Duke to the top spot in the AP poll in 16 seasons, including 11 of the last 16 years.
He and the Blue Devils have been a fixture on the national basketball scene with 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths from 1996-2013 and 29 in the past 30 years. Overall, he has taken his program to postseason play in 30 of his 33 years at Duke and is the winningest active coach in NCAA Tournament play with a stunning 82-25 record for a .766 winning percentage. On March 20, 2005, Krzyzewski surpassed Dean Smith’s career tournament win total of 65 with a 63-55 triumph over Mississippi State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Coach K and USA Basketball
Krzyzewski has been a prominent figure on the USA Basketball scene throughout his career. On Oct. 26, 2005, his role on the international basketball world was thrust into the limelight when he was named head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team.
Over the next five international events, spanning seven years, Coach K and Team USA amassed an extraordinary 62-1 record en route to winning gold medals at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 London Olympics as well as a bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.
On May 23, 2013, USA Basketball and President Jerry announced that Krzyzewski would return as head coach of the USA Basketball Senior National Team from 2013-16.