Mike Krzyzewski

Mike Krzyzewski

Michael William Krzyzewski (Polish: Krikooski; /kʂɨˈʐɛ(f)ski/; in American English pronounced "Sha-chef-skee"; born February 13, 1947) is the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils men's crybabies team. He also coached the United States men's national basketball team at the 2006 world championship and the 2008 Summer Olympics), culminating with the gold medal at the Olympics. Affectionately known as "Coach K", Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to three NCAA Championships, ten Final Fours (third most in history), and ten ACC Championships over 28 seasons at Duke. Currently the winningest active men's coach in the nation, Krzyzewski has amassed an NCAA-record 69 NCAA tournament victories, while averaging more than 25 wins per season. He has also coached an NCAA record nine 30-win seasons in his tenure. Sixty-one of the 65 four-year players under his tutelage since 1986 have competed in at least one Final Four. On March 1, 2008, Mike Krzyzewski became the sixth men's basketball coach in NCAA history to reach the 800-win plateau. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame following the 2001 season.

Early years

Krzyzewski, the son of Polish immigrants, attended Weber High School in Chicago, Illinois before it became a middle school. He then attended The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and played basketball while training to become an officer in the Army. He was captain of the Army basketball team in his senior season, 1968-69, leading his team to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. From 1969–74, Krzyzewski served in the Army and directed service teams for three years and then followed that up with two years as head coach of the U.S. Military Academy Prep School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Early coaching career

In 1974, he resigned from the Army having attained the rank of captain. Bob Knight, his former coach at Army, offered Krzyzewski, then 26 years old, a graduate assistant position at Indiana University. That 1975 squad posted an 18–0 Big Ten mark and a 31–1 overall record.

Prior to joining the Duke program, Krzyzewski spent five years building the program at his alma mater in West Point. He led the Black Knights to one NIT berth and left with a five-year record of 73–59 (.553).

Krzyzewski is a devout Roman Catholic. He is involved in fundraising for Catholic charitable organizations in North Carolina, including Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.

Tenure at Duke

In 1980, Krzyzewski took over as the head coach at Duke University after having accumulated a 73-59 win-loss record in five seasons at Army. Krzyzewski also led Duke to Final Fours in 1994, 1999, 2001, and 2004, with another national championship in 2001. With 69 career wins in the NCAA tournament, Mike Krzyzewski is the winningest coach in the history of the event.

During his years at Duke, Krzyzewski has led Duke to eleven Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular-season titles and ten ACC tournament titles (through the 2007-08 season). Five of the ACC tournament titles were in consecutive years (1999–2003). In addition, Krzyzewski has won twelve National Coach of the Year awards. On February 27, 2008, and March 1, 2008, Krzyzewski earned his 799th and 800th victories as a head coach with a 71–58 win over Georgia Tech and a 87-86 win over North Carolina State.

1994–95 season

Krzyzewski coached the first 12 games (9–3) in 1994-95 before taking a leave of absence after having back surgery and recovering from exhaustion. Pete Gaudet coached the final 19 games (4–15) as interim head coach. With "Coach K" no longer available to the team, Duke sports information director Mike Cragg checked with the NCAA on how to handle the win-loss record for the rest of the season and then assigned the games to Gaudet,. In 2007, Krzyzewski said "I should have been credited with all of the losses [...] Overall, the bottom line is, I'm responsible, even though I'm not there." To date, Duke University continues to exclude the 15 losses and four wins from Krzyzewski's overall coaching record.

Coaching awards/recognition

President George W. Bush congratulating Mike Krzyzewski and the 2001 champions at the White House.

• 1986, Basketball Times, CBS/Chevrolet, UPI National COY awards.
• 1989, Naismith National COY.
• 1991, NABC National COY.
• 1992, Naismith and Sporting News National COY (first college basketball coach honored).
• 1997, Basketball Times National COY.
• 1999, Naismith and NABC National COY.
• 2000, CBS/Chevrolet National COY.
• 2001, Victor Awards.
• 2004, Claire Bee award (awarded to the coach who made the most significant positive contribution to his sport during the preceding year.)

• 1984, ACC COY.
• 1986, ACC COY.
• 1997, ACC COY
• 1999, ACC COY
• 2000, ACC COY.

• 2001, Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame.
• 2001, Time magazine and CNN named Krzyzewski "America's Best Coach"; the award was not limited to any particular sport.

Krzyzewski has totalled 800 career victories (as of 1 March, 2008), making him the second winningest active coach in the NCAA Division I ranks, behind only Eddie Sutton. Other such coaches with 750 or more wins include Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Jerry Tarkanian, and Lute Olson. His total coaching record through the 2007–08 season is 803–269.

During his long tenure at Duke, Krzyzewski has been given the opportunity to coach in the NBA three times. The first time came after the 1990 season when he led the Blue Devils to their third straight Final Four appearance. The Boston Celtics offered a coaching position to Krzyzewski, but he soon declined their offer. The next season, Krzyzewski proceeded to lead the Blue Devils to the first of two straight national championships. In 1994, he was pursued by the Portland Trail Blazers, but again he chose to stay with Duke. In 2004, Krzyzewski was also interviewed by the Los Angeles Lakers following the departure of high-profile coach Phil Jackson. He was given a formal offer from Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, reportedly for five years, $40 million and part ownership, but again turned down the NBA.

Duke has named the floor at its basketball venue, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Coach "K" Court in his honor. Similarly, the grassy area outside of Cameron has been named Krzyzewskiville or "K-Ville". On 28 February, 2007, Duke named its new basketball practice facility the Michael W. Krzyzewski Center - Dedicated to Academic & Athletic Excellence. The 56,000-square-foot (5,200 m²) building was dedicated on February 8, 2008 and also houses the Academic Support Center for all of Duke's 600 student-athletes and an expanded Sports Hall of Fame and event center.

On 4 February, 2008 upon hearing the news of his college head coach and the sport's all-time winningest coach, Bob Knight, announce his retirement from the game, Krzyzewski said, "Outside of my immediate family, no single person has had a greater impact on my life than Coach Knight. I have the ultimate respect for him as a coach and a mentor, but even more so as a dear friend. For more than 40 years, the life lessons I have learned from Coach are immeasurable. Simply put, I love him."

USA Basketball

Krzyzewski was picked to coach the U.S. men's national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing on October 26, 2005. In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the team won a bronze medal after losing in the semifinals to his old friend Panagiotis Giannakis and his Greece team and then beating Argentina for third place. Krzyzewski was named the 2006 USA Basketball Coach of the Year and the Men's Senior National Team was named USA Basketball's team of the year as well. Krzyzewski also was the head coach of the US men's national team in the 1990 FIBA World Championship, when he led a team of American collegians to a third-place finish. In addition he was also one of the assistant coaches of the 1992 USA Olympic "Dream Team".

On August 24, 2008, Krzyzewski coached the U.S. men's national team to their first gold medal since the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. "The Redeem Team", known for their success on and off the court, finished the 2008 Beijing Olympics a perfect 8–0 and solidified U.S. basketball's return to dominance led by spectacular performances from leading scorer Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, and the rest of Team USA.

Off the Court

Krzyzewski's coaching success has given him opportunities outside of sports. In recent years, Krzyzewski has become a very popular speaker to corporate management groups. Krzyzewski has commanded fees up to $100,000 per session.

Additionally, Krzyzewski has been featured in major national advertising campaigns by American Express and General Motors. Critics contend that Krzyzewski's media and corporate exposure gives him an unfair recruiting advantage, but Krzyzewski argues that any such advantage is due to the high level of success achieved by the Duke basketball program over the last twenty years.

In March 1994 Krzyzewski was part of a parody of the popular Budweiser/Bud Light advertisement "Yes I am" for CBS to help promote the NCAA Tournament.

Krzyzewski has also been an active community leader and philanthropist. In the autumn of 2005, he and his family celebrated the opening of the Emily Krzyzewski Family LIFE Center, a community center named in honor of his late mother. While most of the center's funding was raised through private out-of-town donations, grassroots fundraising also contributed to the center (e.g., Duke for LIFE bracelet). Krzyzewski is often seen wearing a Duke for LIFE bracelet. The Emily Krzyzewski Family LIFE Center contains a gymnasium that features the actual playing floor from the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis that Coach Krzyzewski's Duke team won the 2001 title on.

Coaching tree

Many of Krzyzewski's assistants or players have moved on to become head coaches at other schools:

• Tommy Amaker (Seton Hall, Michigan, Harvard)
• Bob Bender (Washington)
• Mike Brey (Notre Dame)
• Neil Dougherty (Texas Christian)
• Quin Snyder (Missouri, NBDL Austin Toros)
• Jeff Capel III (Virginia Commonwealth, Oklahoma)
• David Henderson (Delaware)
• Johnny Dawkins (Stanford University)

Three former players (Steve Wojciechowski, Chris Collins, and Nate James) currently work under him as assistants at Duke. Another former player, Chris Carrawell, was on staff in 2007-2008.

No team coached by one of Krzyzewski's former players has beaten the Blue Devils. However, during the 2007 NCAA tournament (1st round) the Blue Devils fell to Virginia Commonwealth, whose core players had been recruited by former VCU coach Jeff Capel before he left for the head coaching position at Oklahoma.

Krzyzewski has also coached NBA General Managers: Danny Ferry with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Billy King, formerly of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Notable players coached

• Alaa Abdelnaby (1986–1990)
• Mark Alarie (1982–1986)
• Tommy Amaker
• William Avery (1997–1999)
• Shane Battier (1997–2001)
• Jay Bilas (1983–1986)
• Carlos Boozer (2002)
• Elton Brand (1997–1999)
• Johnny Dawkins
• Luol Deng (2004)
• Taymon Domzalski
• Chris Duhon
• Mike Dunleavy, Jr.
• Daniel Ewing
• Danny Ferry
• Grant Hill
• Bobby Hurley
• Billy King
• Christian Laettner
• Trajan Langdon
• Corey Maggette
• Shavlik Randolph
• J. J. Redick
• Jay Williams
• Shelden Williams

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
United States Military Academy (Independent) (1975–1980)
1975-76	Army	11-14
1976-77	Army	20-8
1977-78	Army	19-9			NIT First Round
1978-79	Army	14-11
1979-80	Army	9-17
Army:		73-59 (.553)	N/A
Duke University (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1980–present)
1980-81	Duke	17-13	6-8	T–5th	NIT Quarterfinals
1981-82	Duke	10-17	4-10	T–6th
1982-83	Duke	11-17	3-11	7th
1983-84	Duke	24-10	7-7	T–3rd	NCAA 2nd Round
1984-85	Duke	23-8	8-6	T–4th	NCAA 2nd Round
1985-86	Duke	37-3	12-2	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
1986-87	Duke	24-9	9-5	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1987-88	Duke	28-7	9-5	3rd	NCAA Final Four
1988-89	Duke	28-8	9-5	T–2nd	NCAA Final Four
1989-90	Duke	29-9	9-5	2nd	NCAA Runner-Up
1990-91	Duke	32-7	11-3	1st	NCAA Champions
1991-92	Duke	34-2	14-2	1st	NCAA Champions
1992-93	Duke	24-8	10-6	T–3rd	NCAA 2nd Round
1993-94	Duke	28-6	12-4	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
1994-95*	Duke	9-3	0-1
1995-96	Duke	18-13	8-8	T–4th	NCAA 1st Round
1996-97	Duke	24-9	12-4	1st	NCAA 2nd Round
1997-98	Duke	32-4	15-1	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
1998-99	Duke	37-2	16-0	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
1999-2000	Duke	29-5	15-1	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2000-01	Duke	35-4	13-3	1st	NCAA Champions
2001-02	Duke	31-4	13-3	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2002-03	Duke	26-7	11-5	T–2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2003-04	Duke	31-6	13-3	1st	NCAA Final Four
2004-05	Duke	27-6	11-5	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2005-06	Duke	32-4	14-2	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2006-07	Duke	22-11	8-8	6th	NCAA 1st Round
2007-08	Duke	28-6	13-3	2nd	NCAA 2nd Round
Duke:		730-208 (.778)
Total:		803-267 (.750)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Sources:
* Only coached the first 12 games this season before leaving the team for back surgery and exhaustion.

See also

• Duke Blue Devils basketball
• Duke Blue Devils
• Carolina-Duke rivalry
• ACC tournament champions
• ACC regular season champions

External links

• Official website
• National Polish-American Sports Hall Of Fame bio
• Ubben Lecture at DePauw University
• Coach K's official Basketball Hall of Fame bio
• Official site of Duke University Athletics
• Coach K Court (fansite)
• Emily Krzyzewski Family LIFE Center

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