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Mike Krzyzewski

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Mike Krzyzewski

Michael William "Mike" Krzyzewski (pronounced sha-SHEF-skee) born February 13, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois), often referred to as Coach K, is the head coach of the Duke University men's basketball team, one of the most successful programs of the 1980s to 2000s.

He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York for college and played basketball while training to become an officer in the U.S. Army. From 1969-74, Krzyzewski served in the military 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 in Belvoir, Virginia.

In 1974, he resigned from the Army having attained the rank of captain. Bobby 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).

Tenure at Duke

In 1981, he was hired by Duke University to coach the university basketball team. After some difficult early seasons, the program achieved a level of success not seen in college basketball since the John Wooden years at UCLA. 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 offseason, Krzyzewski served as an assistant on the Dream Team, the legendary US Olympic basketball team that was the first to feature NBA players. (Duke star Christian Laettner, who graduated that year, was the only college player on the Dream Team.)

Krzyzewski also led Duke to Final Fours in 1994, 1999, 2001, and 2004, with another national championship in 2001. With 66 career wins in the NCAA tournament, Krzyzewski has surpassed UNC's Dean Smith as the winningest coach in the tournament.

Coach Krzyzewski holding a 2004 ACC Championship Award

During his years at Duke, Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to twelve Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season titles and ten ACC tournament titles (at the end of the 2005-06 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. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Krzyzewski has totalled over 700 career victories and is only the seventeenth coach in NCAA history to reach that milestone. Other such coaches include Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Bob Knight, Eddie Sutton, Jerry Tarkanian, Lute Olson, Jim Boeheim, and Jim Calhoun. His total coaching record - as of March 18, 2006 - is 753-249 (.751).

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. Some believe Krzyzewski used the Lakers job to get a pay raise from Duke. 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".

Salary

Krzyzewski currently has a lifetime contract with Duke University earning $800,000 in salary per year. Including his expense accounts and other allowances, Krzyzewski has a total compensation package from Duke around $1.5 million per year.

USA Basketball

Krzyzewski was picked to coach the U.S. basketball team for the 2006 world championships and 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Coaching Style

In addition to being mentored by Bob Knight and following in his footsteps in various ways, Krzyzewski's behind-the-scenes style has often been compared with Knight's, as both have emphasized discipline and teamwork on and off the court along with academic achievement. Under Krzyzewski, 90% of Duke's scholarship basketball players have graduated, among the highest graduation rates of any NCAA Division I program.[1]

Officiating Controversy

Just as many people accused former head coach of UNC, Dean Smith, of benefiting from favoritism in officiating, Krzyzewski has come under fire more recently. After Dean Smith’s retirement in 1997, Duke began to dominate the ACC. Some felt refs “gave” Duke many calls, some that were game-enders, while others pointed out that the vast majority of top teams in college basketball have a large free-throw differential in their favor.

In February of 2006, three ACC referees were suspended for one game after league officials determined there was an unnecessary technical foul called on a Florida State University player during a close Duke-FSU game, which Duke ultimately won. [2] Conspiracy accusations that refs favor Duke were rampant among many television sports shows including ESPN’s SportsCenter. SportsCenter highlighted the discrepancy in free throws between Duke and their opponents, with Duke leading the ACC in that category that year. Some argued that ESPN left out some key information such as Wake Forest's first place finish in the league in the category the year before, and UConn's (as well as several other teams') much larger free throw discrepancy in the same year. Some believe an actual conspiracy exists while many believe the argument to be baseless and accuse ESPN and other networks of attempting to increase ratings by reporting on this subject and catering to largely anti-Duke national viewers.

Coaching Tree

Many of Krzyzewski's assistants have moved on to become head coaches at other schools

In addition, 10 former of Krzyzewski's former assistants and players are assistants at the Division 1 level, including three former players who are now work under him as assistants at Duke.

References

  1. ^ Kantrowitz, Barbara. "Graduation Blues" US News and World Report.

Quotes

  • "When I was growing up, there weren't any Little Leagues in the city. Parents worked all the time. They didn't have time to take their kids out to play baseball and football. We understood that as kids, so when we congreated at a school yard, if you had six people, or ten or 20, somebody had to organize it, and it was always me."
  • "Sometimes in a defeat, you can set the stage for future victory."
Preceded by Army Men's Basketball Head Coach
1976–1980 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Duke Men's Basketball Head Coach
1981–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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