Mike Krzyzewski - Ambassador to Duke University - Men's Basketball Coaches
It does not take long for a conversation about the highest levels of success in the basketball world to turn to the name Krzyzewski. In 42 seasons at Duke, Mike
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Duke University
It does not take long for a conversation about the highest levels of success in the basketball world to turn to the name Krzyzewski. In 42 seasons at Duke, Mike Krzyzewski – a Naismith Hall of Fame coach, five-time national champion and NCAA record 13-time Final Four participant – built a dynasty that few programs in the history of the game can match.

No coach in Division I men’s basketball history won more games than Coach K’s 1,202.

Head coach at both Duke and Army West Point, Krzyzewski finished his career with a 1,202-368 record, including a 1,129-309 mark at Duke.

In his retirement from coaching, it was announced by Duke President Vincent Price that Krzyzewski and his wife Mickie would continue to serve the school they called home for more than four decades in the role of Ambassador to Duke University.

The numbers that illustrate Coach K’s men's basketball coaching career are simply staggering:

Five national championships (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015)

Six gold medals as head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team

Nine National Players of the Year (11 honors)

Six National Defensive Players of the Year (nine honors)

10 consecutive top-10 AP poll finishes (1997-06)

12 National Coach of the Year honors (eight seasons)

13 Final Four appearances (most in NCAA history)

14 ACC regular season championships

15 ACC Tournament championships (most in league history)

28 NBA Lottery picks (most in Draft history)

36 NCAA Tournament bids (most by one coach)

38 All-America selections (52 honors)

69 ACC Tournament wins (most in league history)

68 NBA Draft selections, including 42 first-round picks

101 NCAA Tournament wins (most in NCAA history)

127 weeks ranked No. 1 in the AP poll (most by a coach in poll history)

535 ACC wins (most in league history)

575 weeks ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll (most by a coach in poll history)

668 weeks ranked in the AP poll (most by a coach in poll history)

1,129 victories at Duke (most in NCAA history at one school)

1,202 career wins (most in NCAA history)

Uncommon Winning

From his first career win at Army on Nov. 28, 1975, to his 1,202nd and final over Arkansas in the 2022 West Regional Final on March 26, 2022, Krzyzewski has set the standard for winning in Division I men’s basketball.

Coach K became the Division I men’s career wins leader on Nov. 15, 2011, at Madison Square Garden, moving past his former coach Bob Knight with his 903rd victory. His historic 1,000th career victory came against St. John’s at The World’s Most Famous Arena on Jan. 25, 2015, as he became the first Division I men’s basketball coach to achieve a four-figure win total.

Krzyzewski’s 1,129 victories at Duke are an NCAA record by a coach at one school. With 1,129 of the Blue Devils’ 2,246 all-time victories, Coach K has presided over more than half (50.2 percent) of the men’s basketball wins in Duke history.

Duke made history under Krzyzewski’s watch by winning an NCAA four-year-record 133 games from 1998-01; the Blue Devils’ total, which came against just 15 losses in the timeframe, surpassed the previous record of 132 held by Kentucky.

Krzyzewski has averaged nearly 30 wins per season during his tenure in Durham and established NCAA career records with 37 20-win seasons and 16 30-win campaigns.

Krzyzewski has won a league-record 535 ACC games (regular season and tournament), passing former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith (422) on Feb. 4, 2015. He has also won an ACC-record 201 conference road games.

Hanging Banners

The crown jewels of Krzyzewski’s tenure at Duke are the five NCAA championship banners that hang in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Coach K’s five national championships are the second most in NCAA history, trailing only the 10 won by former UCLA coach John Wooden. He is one of just three coaches since 1975 to lead a team to back-to-back national titles (1991 and 1992).

Krzyzewski and former Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun are the only coaches in NCAA history to win national championships in three different decades.

Each of Krzyzewski’s five national title teams at Duke has blazed its own trail to the top of the ladder:

The 1991 team knocked off top-ranked and undefeated UNLV, which was riding a 45-game win streak, in the national semifinals before outlasting Kansas to capture the crown

The 1992 team held the No. 1 ranking for each of that season’s 18 AP polls and capped off a 34-2 season with a 20-point win over Michigan in the national championship game

After a home-finale loss to Maryland for one of the best senior classes in Duke history in 2001, the Blue Devils roared to 10 consecutive victories to end the season; Duke got revenge on Maryland – erasing a 22-point deficit -- in the national semis before a memorable win over Arizona to claim the crown

The 2010 team was largely ignored as a title contender prior to the season but rode the second-best scoring defense in program history – 61.0 points per game – and the nation’s highest-scoring trio in Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith to the program’s fourth championship

The 2015 team started three freshmen and leaned on the senior leadership of Quinn Cook, winning 18 of its last 19 games with just eight recruited scholarship players to put a fifth banner in the Cameron rafters

Coach K’s banner-hunting mentality has also translated to unprecedented success on the ACC level.

Duke’s historic four-games-in-four-days run to the 2017 ACC Tournament championship was its record 14th under Krzyzewski’s guidance. He also finished that title run in Brooklyn with a league-record 61 ACC Tournament victories. He has since extended those records with his 15th ACC Tournament championship in 2019 and finished with 69 career ACC Tournament wins.

From 1999-03, Duke won a league-record five consecutive ACC Tournament championships. The Blue Devils captured 10 ACC Tournament crowns in a 13-year period from 1999-11.

Coach K first led Duke to the ACC regular season title in 1986 and has since increased that total to 13 league titles, including one in his final season in 2022. From 1997-01, the Blue Devils either won the league outright or shared the crown in five consecutive seasons. In the decade-long stretch from 1997-06, Duke captured seven regular-season conference championships.

Knocking on the Door

Championships are won in March and, as Coach K constantly reminds his players, there are no free passes into the NCAA Tournament. Berths are earned on merit and Coach K led the Blue Devils into the NCAA Tournament 36 times – more than any other coach in NCAA history.

Coach K took Duke to the NCAA Tournament in 24 consecutive years from 1996 to 2019 -- the longest streak in NCAA history, surpassing Dean Smith’s 23 consecutive appearances from 1975 to 1997.

Krzyzewski did much more than just get his teams into the NCAA Tournament. He and his Duke teams thrived on the biggest stage in college basketball.

Krzyzewski holds NCAA Tournament records for games coached (132) and wins (101) while ranking second all-time with a .765 NCAA Tournament winning percentage (min. 20 games). He reached the Sweet 16 on 26 occasions, seven more than any other coach in NCAA history, and advanced to the Elite Eight a record 17 times.

Coach K was a fixture at the Final Four during his Duke tenure, reaching the final weekend 13 times, breaking a tie with Wooden for the most in NCAA history. His nine national championship game appearances, 22 Final Four games and 14 Final Four wins are all the second-most in the history of the tournament.

Krzyzewski piloted the Blue Devils to five consecutive Final Fours from 1988-92, capturing Duke’s first two national championships during that stretch. From 1998-02, Duke earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament an unprecedented five years in a row. Duke's eight No. 1 seeds under Coach K are the most by a coach in NCAA Tournament history.

Inspiring Greatness

Coach K’s leadership and accomplishments inspired generations of Duke players to strive for heights rarely seen in college basketball.

Nine Duke players have combined to earn 11 National Player of the Year honors during Krzyzewski’s tenure, an NCAA record for total NPOY honors by one coach.

From the time Johnny Dawkins claimed the Naismith Trophy in 1986, the list of Duke’s National Players of the Year grew to include Danny Ferry (1989), Christian Laettner (1992), Elton Brand (1999), Shane Battier (2001), Jason Williams (2001, 2002), J.J. Redick (2005, 2006), Marvin Bagley III (2018) and Zion Williamson (2019).

Battier and Williams shared the major awards in 2001 to become the first duo from the same team to both lay claim to National Player of the Year recognition. Williams became the seventh player in NCAA history to repeat National Player of the Year in 2002 and Redick became the eighth to do so when he garnered the honors in 2005 and 2006.

Coach K has also mentored a group of six players to an NCAA-record nine National Defensive Player of the Year awards during his tenure in Durham. The Blue Devils’ nine honors are more than double the next-closest team in college basketball.

Krzyzewski protégés won the first two National Defensive Player of the Year awards, as Tommy Amaker earned the inaugural honor in 1987 and Billy King followed up in 1988. Grant Hill (1993) and Steve Wojciechowski (1998) added to the list before Battier joined Tim Duncan as the only players to win three consecutive National Defensive Player of the Year awards, garnering the trophy in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Shelden Williams parlayed his dominant rebounding and shot-blocking prowess into NDPOY accolades in both 2005 and 2006, becoming one of just six players in the history of the award to win it multiple times.

Coach K also had a history-making track record with the youngest members of his program, tutoring a total of six players to National Freshman of the Year honors. Five of those honors came in his final nine seasons. Luol Deng was Duke’s first National Freshman of the Year in 2004, followed by Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Recent winners included Bagley (2018), Williamson (2019) and Vernon Carey Jr. (2020).

Five earned the Wayman Tisdale Award presented by the USBWA, and three garnered the NABC National Freshman of the Year honor. Duke’s five honors are the most in the history of the Tisdale Award, which originated in 1989, while the Blue Devils own of three of the four NABC honors since the award’s inception in 2017.

Producing All-Americans became the norm at Duke under Coach K, who mentored a group of 38 players who combined to earn 52 All-America honors. He coached an All-American in 33 of his 42 seasons at Duke, including in 14 of the final 15 seasons.

In his time in Durham, Krzyzewski coached 24 players who were named consensus All-Americans a combined 31 times. A storied list of players who have earned consensus first-team All-America honors under Coach K includes Dawkins, Ferry, Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Hill, Chris Carrawell, Battier, Jason Williams, Redick, Nolan Smith and most recently Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett. Williamson and Barrett became the first freshman teammates in NCAA history to earn consensus first-team All-America honors.

Duke has accounted for the last three occurrences nationally of teammates earning consensus first-team All-America honors in the same season -- 2001 (Battier and Jason Williams), 2006 (Redick and Shelden Williams), 2019 (Barrett and Williamson).

Krzyzewski coached 12 Duke players to a total of 14 ACC Player of the Year awards, led by two-time winners Ferry and Redick. Okafor made history in 2015 when he became the first freshman to collect ACC Player of the Year honors. Bagley became the second in 2018, followed by Williamson in 2019. Williamson also became the ACC's first freshman to be named the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP in the same season.

In 2020, Duke became the ACC’s first program to seize the league’s three top awards with Tre Jones as both the ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, and Carey as the Freshman of the Year.

Coach K led 10 Duke players to ACC Freshman of the Year honors – including one in seven of his last nine season: Parker (2014), Okafor (2015), Brandon Ingram (2016), Bagley (2018), Williamson (2019), Carey (2020) and Paolo Banchero (2022). A total of five ACC Defensive Players of the Year came under Coach K’s watch with Shelden Williams winning in 2005 and 2006, DeMarcus Nelson in 2008, Tre Jones in 2020 and Mark Williams in 2022.

Krzyzewski proved to be the standard bearer in the coaching profession for attracting the most top-end talent, as he enticed 84 McDonald’s All-Americans to play for him at Duke – the most all-time by a coach. Duke signed at least one McDonald’s All-American in each of his final 38 years, the longest streak in the nation by 26 years.

Five Duke signees claimed at least a share of MVP honors at the McDonald’s All-American Game: Bobby Hurley (1989), Redick (2002), Josh McRoberts (2005), Okafor (2014) and Frank Jackson (2016).

Ricky Price (1994), Gerald Henderson (2006), Grayson Allen (2014), Jackson (2016) and Zion Williamson (2018) have each won the McDAAG dunk contest; Chris Collins (1992), Trajan Langdon (1994), Nate James (1996), Battier (1997), Chris Duhon (2000), Redick (2002), Ryan Kelly (2009), Rasheed Sulaimon (2012), Luke Kennard (2015) and Cam Reddish (2018) won the three-point contest; Nolan Smith (2007), Tyus Jones (2014) and Jayson Tatum (2016) each won the skills contest.

The Morgan Wootten Award is presented to the nation’s top high school senior, and the Blue Devils’ nine – all coming under Coach K – led the nation.

Ranking Among the Best

Duke was a fixture in the Associated Press poll during Coach K’s career. Of the 1,438 games Krzyzewski coached at Duke, 1,276 – 88.8 percent – were as a ranked team. The Blue Devils were 1,039-238 (.814) as a ranked team under Coach K.

Duke spent 127 weeks at No. 1 in the AP poll, 575 weeks in the top 10 and 668 weeks in the top 25 under Coach K, all of which led active coaches at the time of his retirement. Three of the 10-longest rankings streaks in AP poll history came at Duke under Krzyzewski’s direction, including a 200-week streak from 1996-07 that stands as the third-longest in history.

Coach K took top-ranked Duke teams into games on 254 occasions and compiled a 219-35 (.862) record as the AP’s No. 1 team, ranking first in poll history in both number of games and number of wins as coach of a top-ranked squad.

He guided Duke to the top of the poll at least one time in a poll-record 21 different seasons. From 1999-02, Coach K’s Duke teams finished No. 1 in the season’s final AP poll an unprecedented four consecutive times. Since he first led the Blue Devils to the top of the poll in 1986, Coach K’s Duke teams finished the season ranked No. 1 eight times – more than double the next-best team in that timeframe.

Duke also achieved at least one No. 1 ranking in seven straight seasons from 1998-04, the second-longest streak in poll history.

Strength at Home

Cameron Indoor Stadium has always been a formidable mountain for visiting teams to climb, but that took on new meaning during Krzyzewski’s time in Durham. Coach K concluded his Duke career with an active streak of 472 consecutive sellouts at Cameron, dating back to Nov. 26, 1990 -- at the time of his retirement, it stood as the longest in either college basketball or the NBA.

Coach K accrued a 572-76 (.883) record and orchestrated 11 undefeated seasons at Cameron. His 500th victory at Duke’s fabled home arena came in a victory over Pittsburgh on Feb. 4, 2017.

Krzyzewski’s Duke teams were particularly inhospitable to visiting non-conference teams since he arrived on campus. The Blue Devils won 290 of Coach K's last 296 non-conference home games and were 305-11 (.965) versus non-conference teams at Cameron under Coach K, including a streak of 150 consecutive non-conference home wins that ended in 2019-20.

Each of the five-longest home winning streaks in Duke history came during the Krzyzewski Era, including an ACC-record 46-game run from Jan. 13, 1997, to Feb. 9, 2000.

Given his accomplishments in Duke’s home venue, it was only fitting that the university officially named Cameron Indoor Stadium’s playing surface Coach K Court on Nov. 17, 2000.

Next-Level Preparation

Under Coach K, the NBA Draft became an annual rite of passage for Duke players into the highest level of professional basketball.

Krzyzewski has tutored 68 NBA Draft picks during his time at Duke, including a total of 42 first-round selections that led all active coaches at the time of his retirement. Duke has had at least one player taken in 34 of the 41 NBA Drafts during the Krzyzewski Era.

Since the inception of the NBA Draft Lottery in 1985, Coach K and Duke have produced 28 lottery picks – a draft-record total for both a school and a coach. The feat is even more impressive when considering that the rest of the field had a four-year head start on Duke before Danny Ferry became the school’s first lottery pick in 1989.

Coach K has placed 14 freshmen in the NBA Lottery, including at least one in six of the last eight drafts: Corey Maggette (1999), Deng (2004), Kyrie Irving (2011), Austin Rivers (2012), Parker (2014), Okafor (2015), Justise Winslow (2015), Brandon Ingram (2016), Jayson Tatum (2017), Bagley III (2018) and Wendell Carter, Jr. (2018), Williamson, Barrett and Cam Reddish (2019).

The NBA Draft experienced a first in 1999 courtesy of Coach K’s Blue Devils as Brand (1st), Langdon (11th), Maggette (13th) and William Avery (14th) made Duke the first program to have four players selected in the first round of a single draft. Twice have two Coach K protégés joined rare company as Jason Williams (2nd) and Mike Dunleavy (3rd) in 2002 and Williamson (1st) and Barrett (3rd) in 2019 became just the second and third set of teammates all-time to be taken among the top three picks of an NBA Draft. With three of the top 10 picks in 2019, Duke became just the second college in Draft history to accomplish the feat.

Through the 2021-22 season, Coach K’s former Duke players have accumulated more than $3 billion in NBA contracts. Lottery selections who played for Krzyzewski at Duke have combined to earn nearly $2.5 billion in contracts, an average of nearly $70 million per individual.

Focus on the Classroom

The term “student-athlete” was not one taken for granted in Coach K’s Duke program. Krzyzewski’s charges combined to earn All-ACC Academic Team honors 82 times during his tenure, including at least one in each of his final 28 seasons.

The 2015 NCAA Championship featured a program-high five All-ACC Academic honorees. Quin Snyder, Amile Jefferson and Grayson Allen are the only players in Duke history to earn All-ACC Academic honors four times. Jefferson, a three-time captain, departed the university in 2017 with both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Krzyzewski had six players collect a total of nine CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, headlined by two-time first-team honorees Battier (2000, 2001) and Mason Plumlee (2012, 2013). Allen became the sixth in 2016 when he garnered second-team accolades, joining Greg Paulus, Mike Dunleavy and Quin Snyder.

In 2015, Battier became the first of Coach K’s players to be inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame.

Krzyzewski has been an executive-in-residence at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business since 2001 and helped found the Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics (COLE).

Recognition

Fittingly, Coach K has earned nearly every award imaginable. The crown jewel of that haul, however, came in 2001 when he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Since his enshrinement in Springfield, Mass., Krzyzewski has also been inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame (2009), the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame (2010) and the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame (2011).

Coach K has been named National Coach of the Year by major organizations a dozen times in eight different seasons, most recently in 2001. In 2004, he was named the Claire Bee Coach of the Year, an award that honors the active Division I men’s basketball coach who has made the most significant positive contribution to the sport during the preceding year.

He has been voted ACC Coach of the Year five times, most recently in 2000. His five ACC COY awards are the second-most in league history.

Coach K has also been the recipient of the Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award (2012) and the Lapchick Character Award (2015).

Numerous publications have singled out Coach K for his extraordinary leadership and accomplishments, beginning in 1992 when The Sporting News made him the first college coach to earn its Sportsman of the Year honor. In a 2001 joint venture, TIME and CNN dubbed Krzyzewski “America’s Best Coach;” the outlets’ criteria for the honor did not limit candidates to any sport or level of competition.

Coach K was named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 2011. He shared the cover with Pat Summitt, the late, legendary Tennessee women’s basketball coach. In 2008, Nike honored Duke’s longtime coach with the Michael Krzyzewski Fitness Center – a state-of-the-art, 47,000-square foot facility on Nike’s campus in Portland.

In 2020, Make-A-Wish America presented the Chris Greicius Award to Coach K and Duke, recognizing the exceptional wish-granting support exemplified by his program in helping create life-changing wish experiences for children fighting critical illness. The Blue Devils, who have been granting Make-A-Wish wishes for over a decade, became the first collegiate program nationally the earn the honor.

Long known for his patriotism, Krzyzewski has received several awards in recognition of his service to the United States.

In 2005, he became the youngest recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award at the United States Military Academy. He was also the recipient of the Marshall Medal in 2014, the highest award presented by the Association of the United States Army. The Marshall Medal is awarded annually to an individual who has exhibited selfless service to the United States of America.

Coach K has been named USA Basketball Coach of the Year seven times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016). He also received the United States Sports Academy’s Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award in 1992, 2009 and 2012.

Representing the USA

While establishing Duke as one of college basketball’s dynastic programs, Krzyzewski simultaneously spent more than decade as one of the architects of the revitalization of USA Basketball. Following his appointment as head coach of the United States National Team on Oct. 26, 2005, Coach K presided over one of the golden eras of USA Basketball.

During his tenure at the helm of the program, the U.S. National Team amassed an extraordinary 88-1 record and claimed gold medals at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2010 FIBA World Championship, 2012 London Olympics, 2014 FIBA World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics, as well as a bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Coach K was 24-0 in the Olympics as head coach of the USMNT and his time at the helm ended with the team in the midst of a National Team-record 76-game winning streak that began in 2006.

When combined with his five NCAA championships, Krzyzewski’s three Olympic gold medals and two World Cup golds give him a total of 10 major championships during his head coaching career. That total is tied for second-most all-time, just one behind the 11 (all NBA) championships won by Phil Jackson.

Coach K finished his tenure as U.S. National Team head coach with a flourish in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, defeating Serbia for the Olympic gold medal. With the win, he became the first coach – man or woman – to lead a country to three Olympic basketball gold medals – and did so consecutively.

The history made in Rio almost never was, as Coach K announced that he would not return as USMNT coach following the USA’s record-setting performance to win the gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012. Jerry Colangelo’s persistence paid off in May 2013 when Coach K announced that he would return for a third term.

Krzyzewski’s first Olympics as head coach – the 2008 Beijing Games – was nearly as important for its perception-altering effect on the U.S. National Team as it was for the gold medal the squad brought home. The squad won over fans with its unselfishness on the court, patriotic support of Team USA as a whole and first-class demeanor throughout the tournament – all signature Coach K values.

The historic accomplishments of the Krzyzewski Era of USA Basketball also applied to the FIBA World Championship (later renamed the FIBA World Cup).

Coach K led the U.S. to the top of the podium at the 2010 World Championship to claim the Americans’ first gold at the event since 1994. There was no drop-off when the 2014 event rolled around as Krzyzewski presided over a second consecutive world title for the U.S. With the repeat victory, the U.S. became only the third country to win back-to-back FIBA world titles since the event was initiated in 1950.

While Coach K’s tenure at the helm of the U.S. National Team is one of the bright spots in USA Basketball history, his affiliation with the sport’s governing body in the U.S. stretches back nearly four decades.

After getting his start in 1983 at the National Sports Festival – winning a gold medal – and the Pan Am Games, Krzyzewski was a special assistant to mentor Bob Knight on the 1984 Olympic Team that captured gold in Los Angeles.

Coach K was also an assistant on the “Dream Team,” potentially the greatest team ever assembled and the gold medal-winning squad at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. In all, Krzyzewski was a member of five gold medal-winning Olympic coaching staffs during his international career and helped the United States to a 40-0 record in those tournaments.

Duke players have also had a prominent impact in the Olympics as 11 of Krzyzewski’s former players have competed in the Games for six different countries, including the most recent 2020 Olympics in Tokyo where Jayson Tatum won gold with Team USA.

Six of Coach K’s former players – Brand, Duhon, Irving, Laettner, Parker and Shelden Williams – have been named USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year.

The Coaching Tree

Sustained success under Coach K resulted in coaching opportunities for several of his former players, as well as his former assistant coaches from both Duke and Army. At the time of his retirement in 2022, more than 20 of Coach K’s former players or assistants were either coaching or working in front office roles across professional and college basketball.

Ten of Coach K’s former players or staff are Division I head coaches: Tommy Amaker (Harvard), Kenny Blakeney (Howard), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Jeff Capel (Pittsburgh), Chris Collins (Northwestern), Johnny Dawkins (Central Florida), Bobby Hurley (Arizona State), Nate James (Austin Peay), Greg Paulus (Niagara) and Jon Scheyer (Duke).

Quin Snyder is currently the head coach of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, headlining a long list of former players, staff and managers that are connected to the NBA. That list also includes Grant Hill as part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, Elton Brand as general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers and Trajan Langdon as general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Krzyzewski displayed a firm commitment to taking care of his own, having at least three former Duke captains on his staff every season since 1996-97. The Blue Devils won three NCAA titles, 12 ACC Tournament championships and nine ACC regular season crowns during that time.

Giving Back

Krzyzewski has been diligently committed to public service, both locally and nationally, throughout his coaching career. He is currently serving on boards for, while also assuming vital roles with, the Duke Children’s Hospital, the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research, the NABC Foundation, the CEO Roundtable on Cancer and the Emily Krzyzewski Center.

On Jan. 18, 2014, former President and co-founder of C-Change George H.W. Bush traveled to Durham to recognize Krzyzewski for his personal commitment and leadership in working to eliminate cancer as a public health threat. Coach K followed President Bush as honorary co-chair of C-Change from 2006-15, when the organization reconstituted.

Coach K is on the board of the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research and has been active in the foundation since its inception in 1993. He and his wife, Mickie, have hosted the V Foundation Napa Valley Wine Celebration a record 14 times, an event that has raised tens of millions of dollars for cancer research.

An honorary chairman of the Duke Children’s Hospital, Coach K participates in the Children’s Hospital Radiothon and has been active in past events such as the Duke Children’s Miracle Network Telethon and the Duke Children’s Classic.

Coach K’s philanthropic activities also include the establishment and funding of the Emily Krzyzewski Center, a community center in Durham named in honor of his late mother. The Center’s mission is to inspire economically disadvantaged students to dream big, act with character and purpose, strive for academic excellence and reach their highest potential as future citizen leaders.

In May 2018, Coach K and his wife Mickie announced their single-largest philanthropic gift, a $3 million donation to the Emily K Center to kick start a $15 million fundraising campaign for the Durham-based Center. The three-year campaign concluded on December 31, 2020, exceeding its goal by $3.85 million.

In 2002, several former Duke stars, including Grant Hill, Laettner, Battier, Dunleavy and Ferry, returned to campus for the Duke All-Star Charity Hoopla, which helped raise significant funds for the Duke/Durham Neighborhood Partnership and the Emily K Center. Today, the K Academy – Duke’s fantasy basketball camp – annually raises more than $250,000 in support of the Center.

Coach K was recognized as the first winner of the NABC Literacy Champion Award in 2000, earning a $10,000 donation from GTE (now Verizon) to support Duke Athletics’ literacy program, Read with the Blue Devils.

The Duke University culture, its students and its staff are also an important part of Krzyzewski’s life. The university recognized his vital role on campus in 1997 when it awarded him the Medal of Honor – Duke’s highest honor – at the University Founders’ Day Convocation.

In September 2001, he and 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, provides assistance to undergraduates from North and South Carolina.

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.

Coach K added another thread to his Duke legacy in 2016 when he was selected to give the commencement address to the university’s graduating class.

Krzyzewski has co-authored a total of five books and has added the title of “best-selling author” to his already lengthy list of accomplishments.

His first venture as an author came with Duke Sports Hall of Famer Bill Brill and was entitled, “A Season is a Lifetime.” The book chronicled the Blue Devils’ 1992 national championship season.

Coach K has authored two books with Texas writer Don Phillips. The first, “Leading with the Heart,” emphasized Krzyzewski’s successful strategies for basketball, business and life. It was released in 2000 and reached the New York Times best-seller list.

He and Phillips teamed up again for “Five-Point Play,” released in the fall of 2001. The book relived Duke’s journey to the 2001 national title.

Coach K and his daughter, Jamie K. Spatola, have also authored two books together. The first, “Beyond Basketball: Coach K’s Keywords for Success,” was released in October 2006. Following the 2008 Olympics, the father and daughter collaborated on “The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team,” which featured Coach K’s guide to team building, illustrated with experiences from his three years coaching the team that would ultimately win Olympic gold.

Since 2005, Krzyzewski has hosted an hour-long radio show, “Basketball and Beyond with Coach K,” on SiriusXM. The show, which runs weekly throughout the college basketball season, features Coach K interviewing successful people from various walks of life, including sports, pop culture, politics and more.

Prior to Duke

Coach K’s disciplined, mentally tough teams can be seen as an extension of his own upbringing. Krzyzewski went to West Point and enrolled in the U.S. Military Academy to receive a quality education, play basketball and become an officer in the Army.

From 1969-74, Krzyzewski served his country, directing service teams for three years and serving a two-year stint as head coach at the U.S. Military Academy Prep School in Belvoir, Va. In 1974, he resigned from the Army having attained the rank of Captain.

When Coach K was just 26, Knight, his former coach at Army, offered him a graduate assistantship at Indiana University. That 1975 squad posted an 18-0 mark in the Big Ten and a 31-1 overall record.

Prior to his arrival at Duke in 1980, 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 an overall record of 73-59.

Coach K Chronology