• Auctions - Carousel Above Header
  • Donate - Carousel Above Header
  • Duke Photo Store
  • Tickets
  • Promotions - Carousel Above Header
  • Uploaded Ad
Share |
Print  
Mike Krzyzewski
Position: Head Coach
Alma Mater: U.S. Military Academy '69
Experience: 26 Years
Phone: (919) 613-7500
CoachBio.Sell.Url=javascript: goToReplayPhotos(205962430)
1
Krzyzewski Photos
View Gallery
780136
791571
780136
791644
770108
780219
770108
780244
768522
780241
768522
778698
768413
780239
768413
778633
767921
780421
767921
778437
768309
778525
768309
780424
750033
761745
748784
760208
748849
760167
748450
759676
748139
759455
729142
739614
Krzyzewski Videos
Play Video
More Videos
Mike Krzyzewski Bio
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Courtesy: Duke Sports Information
Release: 06/30/2005
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 31st year 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.
   
In 30 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.
   
The numbers under Coach K are staggering:

    • Four National Championships (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010)
    • 12 National Coach of the Year honors (eight seasons)
    • Seven National Players of the Year (nine honors)
    • Six National Defensive Players of the Year (nine honors)
    • 26 NCAA Tournament bids
    • 22 All-America selections (36 honors)
    • 11 Final Four appearances (T-2nd all-time)
    • 12 ACC regular season championships
    • 12 ACC Tournament championships
    • 795 total victories (309 ACC wins)
    • 448 weeks ranked among the nation’s top 25 teams
    • 386 weeks ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams
    • 93 weeks ranked No. 1 in the country
    • 77 NCAA Tournament victories (first all-time)
    • 40 NBA Draft selections, including 21 in the first round
    • 15 NBA Lottery picks

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.
   
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 last season 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 14 seasons, including nine of the last 13 years.
   
He and the Blue Devils have been a fixture on the national basketball scene with 15 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths from 1996-2010 and 26 in the past 27 years. Overall, he has taken his program to postseason play in 27 of his 30 years at Duke and is the winningest active coach in NCAA Tournament play with a stunning 77-22 record for a .778 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.
   
To top off an incredible year in 2001, after Duke won its third national championship, Krzyzewski was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class along with Temple’s John Chaney and former NBA star Moses Malone. The induction ceremony was held in Springfield, Mass., on October 5, 2001. In typical Coach K fashion, he was adamant in sharing the honor with those around him.
   
“I hope that all of those youngsters who have played for me and the people who have worked with me will share in this honor,” he said. “My mom always told me to associate myself with great people and great institutions. I’ve tried to do that at the United States Military Academy and at Duke University, two of the great institutions in the world. As a result, I’ve been around some amazing people.
   
“I never thought I’d be worthy enough to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame. It’s not anything you set out trying to achieve. Basically, you go about your business and try to be as good as you can be all the time. Again, I get back to coaching great players and being with great assistants. They bring out the best in you.” 

Duke Highlights
Success stories do not just happen overnight. They take time, and the latest chapter in Duke basketball is no exception. Krzyzewski inherited a Duke squad in 1980-81 with a thin talent base outside of All-America Gene Banks, Kenny Dennard and Vince Taylor. The squad hustled its way to a bid in the NIT, but it was obvious that the recruiting trail was Krzyzewski’s only answer if the team was to succeed in the long run.
   
He landed a recruiting class in 1982 made up of Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie, David Henderson, Jay Bilas and Weldon Williams. It was rated one of the nation’s best and put Duke on the map to stay.
   
Joining that powerful group was guard Tommy Amaker in 1983. Duke won 24 games with that nucleus in 1984 and earned the first NCAA bid under Coach K.
   
With the class of Dawkins, Alarie and company now seniors, the 1986 Duke Blue Devils won an NCAA-record 37 games while claiming Big Apple NIT, ACC regular season, ACC Tournament and NCAA East Regional titles. They established a school record with a 21-game winning streak during the year (that has since been broken), were undefeated at home, advanced to the NCAA Championship game in Dallas and played more games (40) than any other team in college basketball history.
   
With the loss of the five seniors, many expected Duke to drop considerably in 1987, but not Krzyzewski. The team won 24 games and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual national champion Indiana. Amaker ended his career as the National Defensive Player of the Year, closing out a season that Coach K looks back on as the one that demonstrated the winning consistency of the program.
   
The 1987-88 campaign began Duke’s amazing streak of five straight NCAA Final Four appearances as the Blue Devils won 28 games, again swept to the ACC title, won another East Regional championship and found themselves in Kansas City. Senior Billy King followed Amaker by winning the second straight National Defensive Player of the Year award by a Blue Devil.
   
The role of leadership again fell to the senior class in 1988-89. This time, it was the National Player of the Year Danny Ferry, Quin Snyder and John Smith taking the reins. They guided the team to another trip to the NCAA Final Four with a win over heavily favored Georgetown in the East Regional final.
   
In 1989-90, seniors Alaa Abdelnaby, Robert Brickey and Phil Henderson led the way to the Final Four with a 29-9 record, landing just one game shy of the title in Denver. The group won its third consecutive East Regional championship with an overtime triumph over top-seeded Connecticut.
   
Then came 1990-91, a season that forever changed the face of basketball at Duke. After the 30-point loss to UNLV in the 1990 final, Krzyzewski’s team was determined to avenge the loss. The Blue Devils won the regular season ACC title and posted four consecutive lopsided victories in the Midwest Region for yet another trip to the Final Four.
   
In the semifinals, Duke got another shot at the Runnin’ Rebels, who were undefeated, and this time Coach K masterfully led the Blue Devils to a 79-77 victory to earn a matchup with Kansas for the title. Duke’s crowning glory came on April 1, 1991, with a 72-65 victory over the Jayhawks as Christian Laettner earned MVP honors in Duke’s first national basketball championship.
   
In 1992, the stage was set for an unprecedented chapter in college basketball history and Coach K and his squad were up to the task. Behind National Player of the Year Christian Laettner and fellow All-Americas Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill, the Blue Devils rolled to a 34-2 record and held the No. 1 ranking from start to finish (18 polls). Duke won its second consecutive NCAA crown with a 71-51 victory over Michigan. Along the way, the Blue Devils captured their fifth consecutive regional championship, won the ACC regular season and tournament titles and equaled the school record to that point for ACC victories with 14.
   
In 1993-94, the Blue Devils and Coach K were back knocking at the door of another national championship. Duke piled up a 28-6 overall record, won the ACC regular season championship, was ranked from start to finish in the nation’s top 10, captured the Southeast Regional title with an upset win over top-seeded Purdue and advanced to the national championship game before bowing to Arkansas, 76-72, in Charlotte.
   
The Blue Devils finished the 1998-99 campaign equaling the NCAA record for most wins with 37, winning the NCAA East Regional title, winning the ACC Tournament for the first time since 1992, recording the first 16-0 record in the ACC regular season, securing a school-record 32-game winning streak during the year and wrapping it all up as the NCAA runner-ups. Elton Brand was the consensus National Player of the Year, Shane Battier was the NABC National Defensive Player of the Year and Trajan Langdon was a first team All-America for Duke.
   
In 1999-2000, Duke finished with a 29-5 record, its fourth consecutive outright ACC regular season championship with a 15-1 record, its second consecutive ACC Tournament title and the final regular season No. 1 ranking in both major polls. Senior Chris Carrawell and junior Shane Battier were named consensus All-Americas and Battier earned his second consecutive National Defensive Player of the Year award. The Blue Devils accomplished this despite losing four starters from their 37-2 squad that advanced to the national championship game in 1999. Duke also had seven freshmen, the most on a Blue Devil team in school history, on its roster.
   
On November 17, 2000, Krzyzewski’s numerous accomplishments at Duke were recognized as the fabled Cameron Indoor Stadium court was named Coach K Court in his honor in a postgame ceremony.
   
Continuing to build on his well-earned reputation as one of the top college basketball coaches of all time, Coach K led Duke to its third national championship in 2001, joining just three other coaches — Wooden (10), Adolph Rupp (4) and Bob Knight (3) — who have won three or more NCAA titles. The Blue Devils finished the season with a 35-4 record, including 10 consecutive victories to end the year, their third consecutive ACC Tournament championship, fifth straight ACC regular season championship and the TiVo Preseason NIT title. Duke also was ranked at the top of the final Associated Press poll for the third consecutive season, marking just the second time in NCAA history a program had accomplished that feat (Wooden’s UCLA squads did it from 1971-73).
   
With its 82-72 victory over Arizona in the 2001 national championship game, Duke ended a four-year run with 133 victories. The Blue Devils lost just 15 games during that four-year span. The 133 wins broke the previous NCAA standard of 132 set twice by Kentucky from 1995-98 and 1996-99. In fact, 10 of the best 35 four-year runs in college history belong to Coach K-led Duke teams.
   
Individually, Coach K passed two major milestones in 2000-01: his 500th victory at Duke (98-85 over Villanova) and his 600th win overall (79-53 over sixth-ranked North Carolina in the ACC Tournament final). He reached 600 career wins faster than all but 10 coaches in college history.
   
Under Krzyzewski’s guidance, not one, but two of his student-athletes earned National Player of the Year awards in 2001 (Shane Battier was the consensus selection, while Jason Williams earned the NABC award). It was the first time in college basketball history that two players from the same team received National Player of the Year recognition by the major outlets. Battier and Williams were both unanimous first team All-Americas, and Battier, the sixth overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, earned his third consecutive National Defensive Player of the Year award.
   
“I thoroughly loved coaching these kids,” said Krzyzewski following the 2001 national title. “They’ve been so good. They’ve given me their hearts, their minds, and not only that, they’ve given it to each other ... I get real close to the guys on my team. That’s the most rewarding thing about what I do.”
   
Krzyzewski led Duke to another outstanding season in 2001-02. The Blue  Devils finished 31-4 overall, won the ACC Tournament title for a record fourth consecutive year, were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for a record fifth straight season and finished No. 1 in the final AP poll for the fourth consecutive season, another NCAA first. Three Duke players — Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer — earned All-America honors and Williams became just the seventh repeat winner of National Player of the Year honors in college basketball history. That Duke threesome also departed for the NBA, where all three were drafted. Williams and Dunleavy were selected second and third, respectively, making them just the second set of teammates to be taken among the top three picks of the NBA Draft (UCLA’s Lew Alcindor and Lucious Allen went one and three in 1969).
   
In perhaps one of his finest coaching jobs, Krzyzewski led his 2002-03 team, featuring six freshmen, to a 26-7 record, its record fifth consecutive ACC Tournament championship and the school’s sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16. Senior Dahntay Jones, the squad’s leading scorer, was Duke’s lone All-ACC representative and an honorable mention All-America selection. Jones became Coach K’s 17th first round NBA pick on 2003 Draft night.
   
Guided by the leadership of senior point guard Chris Duhon, Duke returned to the Final Four for the 10th time in a 19-year period in 2003-04. Duke finished the season 31-6 and won its sixth ACC regular season crown in eight seasons with a 13-3 league mark. Duke reached the No. 1 national ranking for four weeks during the season, marking the seventh consecutive year that it had reached that height (only UCLA’s streak of 12 straight years of achieving the No. 1 ranking from 1964-75 is longer). The Blue Devils ended the year by dropping a one-point decision to eventual national champion Connecticut in the Final Four in San Antonio. Duhon, J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams each earned All-America honors, bringing Coach K’s total selections to 19 in 24 seasons. In the 2004 NBA Draft, Luol Deng, after playing just one season at Duke, was selected seventh overall and Duhon was taken in the second round.
   
The 2004-05 squad featured Daniel Ewing, who would become the 36th NBA Draft pick under Krzyzewski, Redick, a National Player of the Year choice, and Williams, the National Defensive Player of the Year honoree.  The Blue Devils went 27-6 and captured the ACC Tournament championship.
   
In 2005-06, the Blue Devils posted a 32-4 record, including a 14-2 mark in regular season league play. Duke captured the NIT Season Tip-Off crown and went on to win both the ACC regular season and tournament titles. Krzyzewski’s 10th ACC Tournament championship came in the 1,000th game of his coaching career, a 78-76 win over Boston College at the Greensboro Coliseum on March 12. Redick, a consensus National Player of the Year, set the ACC career scoring and the NCAA three-point field goal records and Williams grabbed National Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second year in a row. Redick and Williams also became the ninth set of teammates selected as AP first team All-Americas and the first since Jason Williams and Shane Battier accomplished the feat in 2001.
   
Duke featured the school’s youngest team in more than 60 years in the 2006-07 season with 10 of the 12 players on the roster being either freshmen or sophomores. Despite the youth, the squad recorded a 22-11 record and reached the NCAA Tournament. Coach K recorded his 700th career victory at Duke against Georgia Tech, making him the second-fastest coach in NCAA history to record 700 wins at one school.
   
Coach K had the Blue Devils among the top teams in the nation during the 2007-08 campaign as the team won 22 of its first 23 games. Krzyzewski became only the sixth head coach to reach 800 career wins with a victory at N.C. State. Duke would go on to finish the year 28-6, reaching the NCAA Tournament for the 13th consecutive season. DeMarcus Nelson was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a third team All-America, while Kyle Singler was the ACC Rookie of the Year and a Freshman All-America.
   
In 2008-09, Coach K led Duke to a 30-7 record, the school’s 10th 30-win season, and to the ACC Tournament championship. The Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 and reached a No. 1 ranking in the middle of the season. Gerald Henderson was a first team All-ACC performer while the team featured four players with over 1,000 career points in Henderson, Greg Paulus, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler.
   
The 2010 National Championship team used a stingy defense, hard-nosed rebounding and a potent three-man scoring attack to finish the year 35-5 overall. The Blue Devils held opponents to 61.0 points per game, the second-lowest in school history and averaged 39.0 rebounds per contests for the second-most during Krzyzewski’s tenure at Duke. The Blue Devils also featured the nation’s top scoring trio as guards Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith combined to average 53.3 points per game. Duke won every possible championship they competed for in 2009-10, winning the NIT Season Tip-Off, ACC regular season and ACC Tournament on the way to reaching the NCAA Final Four for the 11th time under Krzyzewski.  
   
On the court, Coach K has averaged more than 25 wins a season during his career at Duke and posted 11 30-win seasons, including 30 or more victories in eight of the last 13 years. Krzyzewski’s 11 30-win seasons are the most by any coach in college basketball history.
   
He has directed his teams to 11 Final Fours, tied for second-most by any coach in NCAA history. Since 1985, Krzyzewski has 77 NCAA Tournament victories, 22 more than the next-closest active coach (North Carolina’s Roy Williams has 55 NCAA wins during this period). His 77 NCAA victories stand as the all-time record, 12 better than the total of 65 amassed by Dean Smith. From 1986 to 2010, every Duke class except three (1998, 2008 and 2009) has played in at least one Final Four. Incredibly, 64 of 72 players who have completed four years of eligibility at Duke since 1986 have played in the Final Four, with 59 of those players having played in at least one NCAA Championship game.
   
Obviously, Coach K has put a recruiting plan in motion that attracts the nation’s best players each year. Five members of this year’s Duke team earned McDonald’s All-America accolades as prep stars, including freshman Kyrie Irving. Joining the rookie is Ryan Kelly, Mason Plumlee, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith.
   
“There was no magic wand,” said Krzyzewski, a past president of the NABC. “It was a matter of hard work and organization and a little bit of luck. We had a plan and we stuck to it. In many ways it may have been better that there wasn’t an abundance of talent when we arrived. If that had been the case, we may have taken certain things for granted instead of building a solid foundation.
   
“When things got tough, I always remembered something Vic Bubas told me just after I had come to Duke,” recalled Krzyzewski. “He said, ‘When you are building something that is going to be really strong, it takes time.’ That gave me encouragement.”

Numerous Honors
Although he has earned nearly every award imaginable, Krzyzewski was rewarded with the ultimate honor in basketball in 2001 when he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He entered the Hall of Fame with Temple coach John Chaney and former NBA star Moses Malone.
   
On September 11, 2009, Krzyzewski was inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame. A special plaque unveiling ceremony was held in the Kenna Hall of Army Sports inside Kimsey Center.
   
TIME magazine and CNN named Krzyzewski “America’s Best Coach” in 2001 as part of a joint venture between the two media outlets. The criteria for the selection was not limited to any sport or any level of play.
   
“No college hoops coach has won more in the past two decades,” wrote Josh Tyrangiel of TIME, “and Krzyzewski has accomplished all this with a program that turns out real-deal scholar athletes — kids who go to class, graduate and don’t mind telling everyone about it.”
   
In all, Coach K has been named the National Coach of the Year 12 times in eight different seasons by major organizations, including 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). In 2004, he was named the Claire Bee Coach of the Year that honors the active Division I men’s basketball coach who has made the most significant positive contribution to his sport during the preceding year.
   
As head coach of the U.S. Senior National Team from 2006-08, Krzyzewski led USA Basketball to a gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. He has also been named the USA Basketball Coach of the Year in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
   
In 1992, The Sporting News named him the Sportsman of the Year, becoming the first college coach to win the honor. The magazine said, “On the court and off, Krzyzewski is a family man first, a teacher second, a basketball coach third, and a winner at all three. He is what’s right about sports...”
   
Coach K has been voted the ACC Coach of the Year five times, most recently in 2000. His five ACC Coach of the Year awards are second all-time among the coaching giants of the league. In celebration of the league’s 50th anniversary in 2002-03, the Raleigh News and Observer named Krzyzewski the best coach in ACC history.
   
His players know how special their coach, mentor and friend is.
   
“I played for the greatest college coach of all-time,” said Shane Battier, one of the most decorated players in the history of the game. “It was an amazing journey.”
   
Two-time National Player of the Year Jason Williams echoed Battier’s sentiments: “It’s a dream to play for a guy like that — a guy who’s just a rock, who believes in you every second you’re on the court. I love Coach K. I’d run through a brick wall for him.”
   
In 2005, Krzyzewski became the youngest recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award at the United States Military Academy.

Success On and Off the Court
When Coach K came to Duke in the spring of 1980, he found a program that was searching for strong leadership and a rebirth of the success that Blue Devil fans had come to know and love. As he enters his 31st season at the helm, the numbers more than prove the faith that former athletic director Tom Butters put in the young, unproven coach to assemble a basketball program consistently ranking in the upper echelon of the country.
   
Krzyzewski runs a quality program from top to bottom, from the players he recruits to the performance of his teams on the floor, year in and year out.
   
“I want Duke basketball to be good on a continuing basis,” said Krzyzewski. “All along it has been my goal to give Duke a program that will last, one that will be nationally ranked and worthy of postseason play every year.”
   
No words can better describe the basketball program he has established at Duke University. Krzyzewski has led his Blue Devils to overwhelming success while building a program that will continue to flourish in the years to come.
   
The term “student-athlete” is used over and over in college athletics, but the Duke basketball team truly exemplifies the ideal. During Krzyzewski’s time with the Blue Devils, all but two Duke players that played four seasons have graduated.
 
The Coaching Tree
Sustained success under Mike Krzyzewski has presented coaching opportunities for several of his former players and assistant coaches from both Army and Duke. In all, five of Coach K’s former players and assistants are head coaches at the Division I level: Tommy Amaker (Harvard), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Jeff Capel (Oklahoma), Johnny Dawkins (Stanford) and Mike Dement (UNC Greensboro).
   
In addition, several others are assistant coaches at the Division I level, including three former players who are Duke’s associate head coaches Steve Wojciechowski and Chris Collins and assistant coach Nate James. Former Blue Devil Chris Carrawell is also currently on the Duke staff as an assistant video coordinator/assistant strength & conditioning coach.

Coach K and International Basketball
Krzyzewski has been a prominent figure on the International Basketball scene throughout his career. On July 21, 2009, he resumed his role as head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team program through 2012.
   
“When you have a good thing going you don’t mess with it. Mike and the staff did an incredible job last quad and he is more than entitled to have another run at it. I’ve said it over and over, he was the right guy at the right time and that is still true,” said Jerry Colangelo, who served as the Managing Director of the 2005-08 USA Basketball Men’s National Team program.
   
Krzyzewski’s second term as the national team coach began with a gold medal performance at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey. With a group that featured six players under the age of 22, Team USA posted a 9-0 mark to capture the gold medal in the FIBA World Championship for the first time since 1994. The U.S. squad had a +24.9 points per game scoring margin with double digit wins in eight of nine contests.
   
In the summer of 2008, Krzyzewski guided the USA squad to a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, China. Team USA reclaimed Olympic gold with a 118-107 victory over Spain in the championship game, while also changing a negative perception of basketball in the United States along the way. Team USA averaged 106 points per game and posted an average margin of victory of 27.9 points per game.
   
“It has been tagged as the most selfish basketball nation on Earth, but the U.S. showed teamwork and intensity normally not seen at any place other than, say, Duke University,” said Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke during Team USA’s gold medal run in 2008.
   
Coach K also led the USA squad to a gold medal in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, posting a 10-0 record and winning by an average of 39.5 points per game. They defeated Argentina 118-81 in the gold medal game to automatically qualify for the 2008 Olympics.
   
In his first competition as head coach of the program, Krzyzewski led a team that included former Duke standouts Elton Brand and Shane Battier to an 8-1 record and a bronze medal finish at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan.
   
Krzyzewski also supports his players’ efforts to participate in international basketball with several former players competing in various international tournaments, including 2004 and 2008 USA Olympic Team member Carlos Boozer. Six of Krzyzewski’s former players have competed for three different countries in the Olympics.
   
Shelden Williams, who led the U.S. team to an 8-0 record and a gold medal at the World University Games in Turkey in 2005, was named the USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. In 2001, Chris Duhon earned the same honor after leading the World Championship for Young Men Team to the gold medal in Japan. Current players Seth Curry, Josh Hairston, Ryan Kelly, Kyrie Irving, Mason Plumlee, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith have USA Basketball experience.
   
Krzyzewski has always been an active part of USA Basketball in various roles, serving as past chairman of the Player Selection Committee for all of the United States’ teams, including the 1991 Pan Am and 1992 Olympic teams. Coach K was an assistant to Chuck Daly (a former Duke assistant coach) at the Olympics and won the gold medal in Barcelona with the “Dream Team.” Christian Laettner was a member of that team, while 1994 graduate Grant Hill was a part of “Dream Team II” in Atlanta.
   
Coach K was the USA head coach in 1990 when he led the Americans to a bronze medal at the World Championships and a silver medal at the Goodwill Games in Seattle. He also paced the USA to a silver medal at the 1987 World University Games and was a special assistant to Bob Knight at the 1984 Olympics. In addition, he has had previous coaching duties at the National Sports Festival (gold medal in 1983) and Pan Am Games.

Prior to Duke
Krzyzewski’s teams take nothing for granted on the court. The core of their success is pressure man-to-man defense, developed over the years with hard work in practice, commitment to excellence and attention to detail. Coach K’s players believe in their system and know that when they win, it is largely because of excellent team defense.
   
His disciplined, mentally tough teams could be seen as an outgrowth of Coach K’s own upbringing. He went to West Point, N.Y., to enroll in the U.S. Military Academy and receive a quality education, play basketball and become an officer in the Army.
   
From 1969-74, Krzyzewski served his country. He 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 in Belvoir, Va.
   
In 1974, he resigned from the Army having attained the rank of Captain. When Krzyzewski was just 26, Bob Knight, his former coach at Army, called and offered him a graduate assistant slot at Indiana University. That 1975 squad posted an 18-0 Big Ten mark and a 31-1 record.
   
Prior to joining the Duke program, Krzyzewski spent five years building the program at his alma mater in West Point. He led the Cadets to one NIT berth, one ECAC playoff appearance and a five-year record of 73-59.

Community Service
Krzyzewski and his players are model representatives of Duke. Coach K involves himself in the community, including being a current chairman of the Duke Children’s Miracle Network Telethon and assuming vital roles at the Duke Children’s Classic, the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research and the NABC Foundation (current president).
   
In 2000, he was named the first recipient of the GTE Reads with the NABC Literacy Champion Award. In honor of Krzyzewski’s selection, GTE (now Verizon) donated $10,000 to support Duke Athletics’ literacy program, Verizon Read with the Blue Devils.
   
He also serves as the chairman for the Emily Krzyzewski Family Center, a local community center near the Duke campus. Four summers ago, several of Duke’s former basketball stars, including Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy and Danny Ferry, returned to campus for the second annual Duke All-Star Charity Hoopla, held in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game and surrounding events helped raise significant funds for the Duke/Durham Neighborhood Partnership and the Emily K Center, which is named in honor of Coach K’s mother. In 2003, Krzyzewski launched the K Academy, a summer fantasy camp to assist with several Duke basketball projects, including the scholarship endowment fund.
   
Krzyzewski and his entire family, wife Mickie and daughters Debbie (40), Lindy (33) and Jamie (29), have been involved in campaigns to stay in school and against alcohol, drug abuse and drunk driving.

Coach K and the Duke Community
The students at the university are also an important part of Coach K’s life. He appreciates their support and often finds a way to include the students, especially those camped out in Krzyzewskiville, a tent community erected each season outside of Cameron Indoor Stadium for students wanting to get a head start on securing entrance to games. He has been known to treat the fans camping out for days, or even weeks, to a pregame strategy session in Cameron or to buy them pizzas while they wait in line. He knows that the unique relationship between his team and the student body is what makes Duke special. The “Cameron Crazies” are regarded as some of the best fans in all of sports.
   
The university also recognized his vital role on campus, awarding him Duke’s highest honor — the Medal of Honor — at the University Founders’ Day Convocation in 1997.
   
In September 2001, Krzyzewski and his wife Mickie created the Krzyzewski Family Scholarship Endowment for Duke students from the Carolinas. The $100,000 scholarship, the result of the Krzyzewskis’ gift and additional funds from The Duke Endowment of Charlotte, will provide assistance to undergraduates from North and South Carolina.
   
“Mickie and Mike Krzyzewski both do so much for our university,” said former Duke President Nan Keohane following the gift. “Their many contributions to our athletic program are well known, and their support of undergraduate academic and residential life at Duke should be, as well.”
   
During the fall of 2002, Coach K received an Honorary Alumnus Award from the Duke Medical Center for his contributions to the Duke Children’s Health Center. Krzyzewski and his family have made the center a focal point in their efforts to raise the standard of clinical care for children.

Coach K: Author
Add another piece to Krzyzewski’s already impressive resume  — best-selling author. Coach K has co-authored two books with Texas writer Don Phillips published by Warner Books. “Leading with the Heart,” emphasizing Krzyzewski’s successful strategies for basketball, business and life, was released in 2000. It reached the New York Times best-seller list.
   
The story of Duke’s 2001 national championship season, “Five-Point Play,” was released in the fall of 2001. The book relives Duke’s journey toward the 2001 NCAA title, the school’s third in an 11-year span.
   
Krzyzewski also co-wrote a book with Duke Sports Hall of Famer Bill Brill entitled “A Season is a Lifetime” following the 1992 national championship.
   
Following the 2008 Olympics, Krzyzewski and his daughter Jamie K. Spatola co-authored their second book together, titled “THE GOLD STANDARD: Building a World-Class Team.” The book was released on April 6, 2009 and featured Coach K’s guide to team building, illustrated with experiences from his three years coaching the team that would ultimately win Olympic gold.
   
Krzyzewski and his daughter Jamie also wrote “Beyond Basketball: Coach K’s Keywords For Success,”  which was released in October, 2006.
Next Page >>

Back to Men's Basketball


Proud Sponsor
click to read more
Buy Official Duke mobile content
Check out our Ringtones 
Duke Fight Songs & Wallpapers!
click to read more
Duke Youth #9 Football Jersey by Nike - $30
Weekly Web Special 
Weekly Web Special
click to read more
Buy Exclusive Sports & Campus Pics
Picture Perfect 
Official Duke Photo Store
click to read more
Buy Official DVD 5-Pack for $118.95
Relive the best Duke moments! 
Duke Championship DVD 5-Pack
click to read more
Bid on Signed Photos & More
Own your piece of history 
Duke Online Auctions
 
 
Football Season Tickets - Now on sale!