What a career for Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) after 42 amazing seasons at Duke University as it is an end of an era in College Basketball. Duke University took a chance on Coach K in 1980 where he use to be the head coach at Army and was unknown at the time, when he arrived at Duke he turned them from an unknown into a Blue Blood where the rest is history. Duke won 5 National Championships with 13 Final Four appearances, 15 ACC Tournament Championships, and 13 ACC Regular Season Championships under the great Coach K. Coach K trails only the great John Wooden in National Championships where Coach K has 5 and Wooden has 10 while at UCLA. Coach K finishes with the most wins in both all time with 1,202 wins and 101 wins in the NCAA Tournament. Coach K set the standard in College Basketball where we may never see a run like this ever again. Coach K also was the head coach of 3 Gold Medals in the Summer Olympics in 2008, 12 and 2016. Coach K coached 28 lottery picks as we speak but more will are on the way in the upcoming NBA Draft. Coach K took Duke to the NCAA Tournament in 24 consecutive years from 1996 to 2019 — the longest streak in NCAA history, surpassing North Carolina Head Coach Dean Smith’s 23 consecutive appearances from 1975 to 1997. Coach K and Duke were nearly unbeatable at Cameron Indoor Stadium where it may be a small arena but it’s very loud with Cameron Crazies screaming all game long. If I had to create an all time Duke team during my lifetime at Duke I would say Bobby Hurley and Jay Williams as my guards, J.J. Reddick and Shane Battier as my forwards while Christian Laettner is my center. I always enjoyed the Duke vs UNC rivalry and it was unfortunate that Duke lost it’s last home game under Coach K to UNC at Cameron Indoor Stadium and his final game in his coaching career in the Final Four also against UNC where it was the first time ever the Blue Devils played the Tarheels in the NCAA Tournament and how fitting it was in the Final Four. Coach K may not of gotten championship #6 but his legacy is secured and is one of the greatest of all time.
When Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan led his school to back to back National Championships during the 2005-06 season and 2006-07 season, the last school to accomplish that was none other than Coach K and Duke in the early 1990s, 1990-91 was his first and 1991-92 was his second for as the dynasty began in Durham. My favorite Duke game of course even though I was very young at the time was the 1992 elite 8 game against Rick Pitino and Kentucky. Grant Hill throwing a full court pass to Christian Laettner where #32 hit the buzzer beating game winning shot where Duke won 104-103 in one of the greatest games in NCAA Tournament history. I learned so much about Duke basketball over the years thanks to the likes of former Duke player and assistant coach who is now an analyst for College basketball at ESPN in Jay Bilas. I am really going to miss Coach K but I am happy for him now that he gets to spend more time with his family as assistant coach Jon Scheyer will take over for the legendary Coach K. Thanks for everything Coach K.
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.