Farewell, Coach K
At the age of 75 coach Mike Krzyzewski, Coach K, announced at a news conference on June 3, 2021 that he had decided to retire from the college basketball world. Even though Coach K would be leaving the sidelines his post coaching plans still involved Duke and its athletes program. He will focus on improving the men’s and women’s basketball practice and training facilities. He is adamant about trying to improve Cameron Indoor Stadium. Coach K also wants to continue being a leader in equality and create an African American Cultural Center on campus.
His decision to step away from coaching was related to wanting to dedicate and spend more time with his family. This meant that the 2021-2022 basketball season would be Coach K’s final season coaching at Duke University.
I wanted to spotlight some of his career highlights. There are of course some fans out there that have a love-hate relationship with Duke basketball. However, whatever feelings people have towards Duke basketball, Coach K is a widely respected member of the basketball community. He will be known as the face of Duke men’s basketball program and one of the greatest coaches in basketball history.
Some of Coach K’s Career Highlights:
Was a player for Army Black Knights in 1966-1969, which at that time was led by Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight.
He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Indiana University with coach Knight
Went back and coached the Black Knights for five years from 1975-1980
He was hired by Duke in 1980 and has coached them for the last 42 seasons
He has secured 15 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament Championships with Duke’s program. (1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2017, 2019)
5 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament Titles belong to Duke’s program. (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015)
He was a three-time Naismith College Coach of the Year (1989, 1992, 1999)
Coached three Olympic Gold Medal winning teams with the United States Men’s Basketball Program. (2008, 2012, 2016)
In case you missed it or forgot about it, here are some game changing moments in college basketball history we will remember most about Coach K:
Coach K’s Most Memorable Moments:
Known as “The Shot,” this game against Kentucky happened at the 1992 NCAA Tournament. This was perhaps one of the most iconic plays in the history of college basketball. This is Christian Laettner’s game winning buzzer beater turnaround jump shot that beat the Wildcats and sent the Blue Devils back to the final four where they won a second consecutive national title beating Michigan’s talented “Fab Five” team in the 1992 title game.
The 2008 “Redeem Team” featured National Basketball Association (NBA) players LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade. This team went on to win Olympic gold but Mike Krzyzewski’s work as head coach of the United States men’s basketball team was important because he helped stabilize the program which suffered some embarrassing losses. Coach K would go 75-1 as head coach of the national team.
Coach K became the all-time winningest men’s basketball coach with a win over Michigan State on November 15, 2011. This was his 903rd win which passed Bob Knight. Later he passed the 1,000 win mark in 2015 and the next winningest coach is Jim Boeheim of Syracuse University.
Entering the 2022 NCAA tournament, Duke was one of four teams ranked number two overall. In the first round they beat number 15, Cal State Fullerton, 61-78. In the second round they beat number 7 Michigan State 76-85. In the Sweet 16 Duke defeated number 3 Texas Tech 73-78. In the Elite Eight, Duke beat number 4, Arkansas 69-78. The tournament ended for the Blue Devils in the Final Four where they lost to number 8, University of North Carolina 81-77.
Replacing Coach K at Duke is 34-year old associate head coach Jon Scheyer. He played under Coach K from 2006 to 2010 and after a brief professional playing career he returned to Duke as an assistant from 2014 to 2018. He will officially take over the program during the 2022-2023 season.