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Mike Krzyzewski
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Michael William "Mike" Krzyzewski (; ; in American English pronounced "Sha-zhef-skee") (born February 13, 1947) is an American basketball coach. Currently the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball 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.
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Encyclopedia
Michael William "Mike" Krzyzewski (; ; in American English pronounced "Sha-zhef-skee") (born February 13, 1947) is an American basketball coach. Currently the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball 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 NCAA Division I coach, 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. 61 of the 65 four-year players under his tutelage since 1986 have competed in at least one Final Four. On March 1, 2008, 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. He then attended The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and played basketball under Bob Knight 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).
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.
After a few years of rebuilding, he and the Blue Devils have been a fixture on the national basketball scene with 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths from 1996-2008 and 24 in the past 25 years. Overall, he has taken his program to postseason play in 25 of his 28 years at Duke and is the winningest active coach in NCAA Tournament play with a stunning 69-21 record for a .767 winning percentage.
Future NBA Players
A total of 49 former Duke players have appeared on an NBA roster, including 13 entering the 2007-08 season (as of Oct. 1, 2007). In 2007, Josh McRoberts became the 39th draft selection under Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has had nine NBA lottery selections the past nine seasons, more than any other school. In 1999, Duke became the first program in the history of the NBA Draft to have four players from the same school selected in the first round. Three of the four — Elton Brand (Chicago), Trajan Langdon (Cleveland) and Corey Maggette (Seattle) — were lottery picks. In 2002, Jason Williams (2nd overall) and Mike Dunleavy (3rd) became just the second set of college teammates in the history of the NBA Draft to be the first two collegians selected. He is considered by many to be the second best coach in college basketball behind only Roy Williams of the University of North Carolina.
Coaching awards/recognition
- 1986, Basketball Times, CBS/Chevrolet, UPI National COY awards.
- 1989, Naismith National COY.
- 2001, Victor Awards.
- 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.
According to Forbes 2009 list of top ten college basketaball coaches, Coach K ranked fourth. Roy Williams of the University of North Carolina ranked number one.
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, Lute Olson, Jim Calhoun, and Jim Boeheim. 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 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 February 4, 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 has been the head coach of several USA men's national teams, winning a a silver medal at the 1987 World University Games, a bronze medal at the 1990 FIBA World Championship, a silver medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games, a bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship and gold medals at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship and 2008 Summer Olympics.
He was also an assistant coach to the USA teams which won gold medals at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics, as well as the 1979 Pan American Games Team and 1992 Olympic Qualifying Team.
In 2005 he was again appointed coach of the national team, through to the Beijing Olympics. In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the USA won the bronze medal after losing in the semifinals to Greece and then beating Argentina for third place.
On August 24, 2008, Krzyzewski's U.S. team won the gold medal at the Beijing games. "The Redeem Team" finished the tournament with a perfect 8–0 record.
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. Krzyzewski is a devout Roman Catholic. He is involved in fundraising for Catholic charitable organizations in North Carolina, including Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.
Coaching tree
Many of Krzyzewski's assistants or players have moved on to become head coaches at other schools:
Three former players (Steve Wojciechowski, Chris Collins, and Nate James) currently work under him as assistants at Duke. Another former player, Chris Carrawell, has been on staff since the 2007-2008 season.
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
Head coaching record
Sources:
* Only coached the first 12 games this season before leaving the team for back surgery and exhaustion.
See also
External links
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