(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
An Icon.
A Trail Blazer.
A 5x National Championship winner
A Coach Like No Other.
Mike Krzyzewski, also known as "Coach K", was hired by Duke in March of 1980. Prior to Coach K's hiring, Duke Men's Basketball did have their fair share of deep NCAA Tournament runs. They were in the National Championship game in 1964 and 1978 but could not get the job done. Since Coach K's hiring, Duke has become a perennial powerhouse, winning 5 National Championship games, almost yearly Elite 8/NCAA Tournament appearances, as well as a plethora of all time great NBA players and current NBA stars coming through the Duke Men's Basketball program. As of June - 2021, Coach K holds the all-time record for Division I Men's Basketball coaching wins with 1,170.
Aside from Duke, Coach K has had great success as the head coach of the USA Men's National Basketball Team. He has won 5 Olympic Gold Medals with the team. 2 as assistant coach and 3 as the head coach. Coach K was an assistant coach for the 1992 USA Men's National Basketball Team, also known as the "Dream Team", which featured many NBA legends such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson.
Coach K has been offered by NBA teams to be head coach for them a handful of times. The Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the then-New Jersey Nets have all offered Coach K a spot on their coaching staffs. As seen, he has declined all of those offers to say at Duke.
On June 2, 2021, Coach K announced that the 2021-2022 College Basketball season (his 42nd coaching Duke) would be his last. His retirement will mark the end of an era not just at Duke, but College Basketball as a whole. Just months prior on April 1, North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams had announced his retirement from coaching. These two coaching legends may have coached for their respective team's biggest rival, but the respect they have for each other and the impact they've had on college basketball is second to none.
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