(FOX Sports/YouTube)
Down 61-51 to St. John’s with just over 8 minutes left at Madison Square Garden today, Duke rallied to outscore St. John’s 26-7 over the final stretch of the game, picking up career win #1000 for head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Freshman point guard Tyus Jones led all scorers with 22 points on 5-11 shooting and a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line, and fellow freshman Jahlil Okafor chipped in yet another double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
As Duke’s defense wilted momentarily in the 2nd half while St. John’s built up their double-digit lead, Krzyzewski added a wrinkle to his team by bringing on Marshall Plumlee to partner Okafor in the paint, and the switch paid off almost instantly, with St. John’s going 0-7 from the field and only snagging one offensive rebound and by the 4-minute media timeout, Duke had retaken a lead that they would not relinquish until the final buzzer.
After an impressive five seasons in his first head coaching job at Army to turn around a program that had gone 3-22 in the year before his arrival, Mike Krzyzewski was a rising star among the college coaching ranks as the 1980s began, but even then, many eyebrows were raised when he was named as the successor to Bill Foster at Duke University on March 18th, 1980.
The son of an elevator operator and a cleaning lady from Chicago, Krzyzewski came from humble beginnings and still found a way to begin his coaching career at an early age. In the 7th grade, he helped friends cobble together a basketball team to participate in the Chicago Catholic Youth Organization basketball league when their middle school did not even have a basketball hoop on their grounds, much less a gym.
In 1974, Krzyzewski was appointed an assistant under Bobby Knight at Indiana before returning to his alma mater at West Point, where Knight had recruited him a an undersized but vocal guard who showed tremendous leadership. In 5 seasons as the Army head coach, the Cadets amassed a 73-59 record that included an NIT berth for a struggling program.
When Tom Butters, Duke’s athletic director at the time, named Krzyzewski to the job, he called the 33-year old the “brightest young coaching talent in America” and “the best possible choice” for the program.
(WFMY/YouTube)
His first 3 years at Durham were not easy, and at one point, the calls to fire the coach with the unpronounceable name were getting louder and louder. A 38-47 record at the helm of a program whose fanbase had high expectations was not seen as a satisfactory start, bearing in mind that the 1983 season was capped off by a miraculous championship run by North Carolina State, and archrivals North Carolina had won the title the previous season. How low had Duke sunk, especially in comparison to its closest rivals on Tobacco Road? 1983 marked the end of back-to-back 17-loss seasons, and a 43-point loss to Ralph Sampson’s Virginia marked the lowest point of Krzyzewski’s tenure to that point.
The Denny’s story following that blowout loss has now become famous: while at dinner with the coaching staff following the game, one of Krzyzewski’s assistants raised a glass at the table and said “Here’s to forgetting tonight.” Krzyzyewski paused, then raised his own glass and said “Here’s to never forgetting.”
With the top-ranked recruiting class from the previous season containing the likes of Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie, and David Henderson, a top returning upperclassman in Jay Bilas, and and a contract extension from an under-fire Butters, the 1983-1984 season marked the beginning of a turnaround in Duke’s and Krzyzewski’s fortunes. By 1986, Duke was a 37-win team and was playing for a national championship.
In the 30 years since then, only once has Duke not been able to qualify for the NCAA Tournament (1995, when Krzyzewski’s ailing back forced him to take most of the season off). The list of achievements has continued to grow over time:
13 ACC Tournament championships
11 Final Fours
8 NCAA Championship games
4 NCAA National Championships
5-time ACC Coach of the Year
3-time Naismith Coach of the Year
Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (2001)
College Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (2006)
Krzyzewski has also revived the fortunes of the US national team, leading them to 2 Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012, and 2 FIBA World Championship titles in 2010 and 2014. In 8 years as the head coach for Team USA, his teams have compiled a record of 63-1, restoring the US’ dominance in world basketball. With the NCAA and World Championship victories in 2010, Krzyzewski became the first coach in basketball history to be the reigning NCAA, Olympics, and World Championships coach at the same time.
On November 15, 2011, Krzyzewski became the winningest college basketball coach of all time with his 903rd win, surpassing his mentor Knight.
(Duke Basketball/YouTube)
Sometimes, the easiest thing to do in attempting to define a person is to see their own words. Below is just a sampling of Krzyzewski’s quotes that epitomize his general philosophy in life and his leadership style:
“Your heart has to be in whatever you lead. It became apparent that this decision was somewhat easier to make because you have to follow your heart and lead with it and Duke has always taken up my whole heart… The allure of coaching in college has no price. It’s one of those priceless things. I’ve never made a decision based on what will get me the most money. It was what was going to give me the most happiness and I’ve been really happy and fulfilled at Duke.”
“Making shots counts, but not as much as the people who make them.”
“People have to be given the freedom to show the heart they possess. I think it’s a leader’s responsibility to provide that type of freedom. And I believe it can be done through relationships and family. Because if a team is a real family, it’s members want to show you their hearts.”
“During the season, your team should be led with exuberance and excitement. You should live the journey. You should live it right. You should live it together. You should live it shared. You should try to make one another better. You should get on one another if somebody’s not doing their part. You should hug one another when they are. You should be disappointed in a loss and exhilarated in a win. It’s all about the journey.”
Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s journey is an ongoing one, and as he continues to add the wins to his and Duke’s totals, the relationships also reflect the tremendous influence he has had not just on alumnus, but on all whose lives he has touched and even on those whom he has yet to coach:
Congratulations to Coach K on 1,000 Division I wins. Nobody has ever done it better. Ever. pic.twitter.com/FxtssyBfzF
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) January 25, 2015
Coach K you’re flat out unbelievable and its a true honor having u as my coach throughout FIBA play! U showed me what it truly meant to…
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 26, 2015
Congrats to Coach K on becoming the first NCAA Division 1 Men’s coach to reach 1,000 wins! — Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 25, 2015
Again, congrats Coach K on 1K wins. You’re the man. #Respect — Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) January 25, 2015
Congratulations Coach K, what a great accomplishment. Can’t believe I’m going to play for this man !! 1,000 and counting sir !!!
— Chase Jeter (@chasejeter04) January 25, 2015
[VIDEO] Friends & colleagues congratulate #CoachK on 1,000 wins via @BlueDevil_NTWRK . #Coach1K http://t.co/O0rPN9FBTV
— Duke Athletics (@Duke_ATHLETICS) January 25, 2015
His coach, mentor & friend. Steve Wojciechowski (@steve_wojo) with some heartfelt words on Coach K’s 1,000th win. https://t.co/ZoahEwHabI — FOX Sports (@FOXSports) January 25, 2015
Criticized by detractors as profane, temperamental, arrogant, stubborn, inflexible, Coach K has demonstrated for more than 3 decades now the ability to create wholes that have been greater than the sum of their parts, and in doing so, he has elevated many of his teams to levels of performance that other coaches around the country aspire to. The Duke basketball program has become one of the most-hated programs in the country because of the perception of elitism surrounding the program and the school, but if a legacy of championships; familial relationships with current, former, and future players; leadership with integrity; and successful mentoring are cause to be hated, then Krzyzewski will be happy to be disliked.
Supporters, on the other hand, recognize what they have had the privilege of watching for the past 30-plus years: One of the greatest of all time. And they will be hoping to see his familiar intense look coupled with the gesticulations at players and referees in the heat of the moment of close games for many more years to come.
(Feature image: AP Photo/Kathy Willens)