Mike Krzyzewski

Michael William Krzyzewski (ʃəʃɛfˈskiˌ; in American English transliteration "shuh-shef-skee"; born February 13, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois), often referred to as Coach "K" due to the difficult pronunciation of his surname, is the head coach of the Duke University men's basketball team. The program has been one of the most successful of the 1980s to 2000s. He has been picked to coach the United States national basketball team through the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Mike Krzyzewski

Krzyzewski, the son of Polish immigrants, 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.

In 1974, he resigned from the Army having attained the rank of captain. Bob Knight, his former coach at Army, called and 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 Cadets to two NIT berths 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.

In 1980, Krzyzewski took over as the head coach at Duke University. Duke lost in the NCAA championship game in 1986 and then made five consecutive Final Fours starting in 1988, the last two of which resulted in NCAA titles (see 1991 and 1992). In the 1992 off-season, Krzyzewski served as an assistant on the Dream Team, the legendary U.S. Olympic basketball team that was the first to feature NBA players.

Krzyzewski also led Duke to Final Fours in 1994, 1999, 2001, and 2004, with another national championship in 2001. With 68 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 the Blue Devils to eleven Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular-season titles and ten ACC tournament titles (through the 2006-07 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 18, 2007, Krzyzewski earned his 700th victory at Duke with a 71-62 victory over Georgia Tech.

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^[1], 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 properly assigned the games to Gaudet,^[1]. 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."^[1]

• 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 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 794 career victories (as of Feb. 4, 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 2006-07 season is 775-261 (.744).

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 and $40 million, 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 Feb. 28, 2007, Duke named its new basketball practice facility the Michael W. Krzyzewski Center - Dedicated to Academic & Athletic Excellence. The 56,000 square foot 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, Coach K 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."

Krzyzewski was picked to coach the U.S. national team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics 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 national team in the 1990 FIBA World Championship, when he led a team of American collegians to a third-place finish.

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's speaking fee is $100,000 per session.^[2]

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. ^[2]

In March of 1994 Krzyewski 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.

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)
• Jeff Capel III (Virginia Commonwealth, Oklahoma)
• David Henderson (Delaware)

Including three former players (Johnny Dawkins, Steve Wojciechowski, and Chris Collins), who now work under him as assistants at Duke.

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 Viriginia Commonwealth, a school whose core team had been recruited by former Blue Devil and current and then coach of the University of Oklahoma, Jeff Capel.

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

Krzyzewski has been described by the press as remote and inaccessible. Krzyzewski has complained about media coverage, and has recognized a damaged relationship. He has pledged to be more forthcoming in the future.[2] Local reporters are particularly vexed by the lack of access given them.[3]

• Danny Ferry
• Billy King
• Johnny Dawkins
• Carlos Boozer
• Elton Brand
• Shane Battier
• Daniel Ewing
• Chris Duhon
• Grant Hill
• Luol Deng
• Corey Maggette
• Christian Laettner
• Bobby Hurley
• Jay Williams
• Mike Dunleavy Jr.
• Trajan Langdon
• J.J. Redick
• Shelden Williams

Overall record with USMA 73-59 (.553)

Note: * only coached the first 12 games this season before leaving the team for back surgery and exhaustion. Year-by-Year; Record Books; ACC tournament champions; ACC regular season champions

• Duke Blue Devils basketball
• Duke Blue Devils
• UNC-Duke rivalry

• 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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