Duke Blue Devils basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski is about to join an exclusive club among college hoops coaches, but he’s much more than a landmark number.
At only 5-foot-10, some of Mike Krzyzewski’s players tower over him as he coaches, but there isn’t a taller man in the building than the guy they affectionately (or lazily) call Coach K.
Duke Blue Devils
In the coming days and weeks there will be plenty written about Krzyzewski and his accomplishments, and the inevitable reaching of his 1,000th win, something that no other college basketball coach has ever done.
1,000 wins will be an impressive achievement, and rightfully celebrated.
But Krzyzewski will tell you that the 308 and counting losses are just as much if not more important. Losing is how you grow and learn, and will teach you how to win.
There will much written and said about the numbers…the number of wins, championships, and banners hung in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The rehashes and reviews of his awards and trophies will go on and on.
But of more importance are the zeros.
The zero times Krzyzewski tried to shift blame, or complained. The zero scandals or investigations during his tenure. The zero times his teams were ever counted out or that he didn’t give his players his best and get the best out of them.
You’ll hear a lot about the stars who came out of Coach K’s program and made their way into the NBA.
But he’ll tell you that the hundreds upon hundreds of young men that he has coached who had no aspirations of playing professional basketball were just as important. How teaching, mentoring and seeing all his players grow was the true measure of how well he did his job.
The labels of “greatest coach ever” or “greatest modern day coach” will undoubtedly be tossed around. Phrases that can be debated using formulaic tables and comparative statistics.
But the word “true” can never be debated when talking about Mike Krzyzewski. True to his heart, his faith, his purpose, his family, his country and his word. A coach who doesn’t use wins as the ultimate why, and who loses with grace and dignity.
Krzyzewski has the slab of hardwood inside Cameron Indoor Stadium named after him.
“Throughout my life, my mom has been the person that I’ve always looked up to.”
But attaching his name to the Emily Krzyzewski Center, a non-profit organization in Durham named in honor of his mother, would probably mean more. He may inspire players to win on Coach K court, but this foundation’s mission is to inspire students reach their potential as leaders in their community, gain entrance to college and to fulfill their dreams and goals is just as important.
His association with coaching legend Bob Knight will be spotlighted. How he learned as both a player at Army and an assistant at Indiana under the tough as nails coach.
But the emphasis on his teaching his own assistants how to coach, and to grow to their full potential is just as impressive. 12 coaches who have served as an assistant to Coach K have gone on to head coaching positions at other schools.
Everywhere Krzyzewski goes, he wins, regardless of what has come before. He led a forlorn Army program to winning seasons and an NIT berth. When he took over at Duke he had to rebuild a program that had been decimated.
But perhaps even more impressive than his success in the college ranks was his time with USA International basketball. Taking over a Team USA who had lost their swagger and dominance, Krzyzewski gathered all the egos together and once again formed USA basketball into the best team in the world, winning Olympic gold medals and FIBA world championships.
There aren’t enough adjectives in the dictionary to adequately describe Mike Krzyzewski, but if you had to pick one that suited him best and painted the most accurate picture, it would be honest.
There is nothing disingenuous about him – his passion, intensity, loyalty, and positive attitude all are deep-rooted in honesty.
It’s easy to hate Duke as a basketball program. They’re just that good. They win and win a lot. They get a lot of attention. They get a lot of great players. They receive adoration from the media, even when it seems unwarranted.
But can anyone really hate Mike Krzyzewski? Is that even possible? There’s simply no target for which to aim. He’s the “but” in the sentence of any Duke misanthropist.
“Man I can’t stand hearing about Duke all the time…but you have to admire Coach K”
The day will come when Mike Krzyzewski will step down from the head coach position at Duke University. There will be hugs, tears, cheers, confetti, bands, crowds, gifts, trophies and speeches.
But the one thing there will never be is regret.
I doubt you’ll ever find a player who regrets coming to Duke to play for Coach K. You’ll never find a fan who regrets cheering for him or his teams. Certainly Duke will never regret hiring Krzyzewski. And Coach K will never regret a single ball game, win or lose.
“You can see and you can listen, but you have to have moments in which you feel.” – Mike Krzyzewski
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