Born: February 13, 1947, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Early days. Krzyzewski, the son of Polish immigrants: father- an elevator operator, mother- a cleaning woman. Mike attended Weber High School in Chicago, before it became a middle school. From an early age, he showed enthusiasm for all sports, but while in the high school he was focusing on basketball. He then attended The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and played basketball while training to become an officer in the Army. He was captain of the Army basketball team in his senior year, 1968-69, leading his team to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In the Army. From 1969-74, Krzyzewski served in the Army 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 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In 1974, he resigned from the Army having attained the rank of captain. Bob Knight, his former coach at Army, offered Krzyzewski 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 Black Knights to one NIT berth and left with a five-year record of 73-59 (.553).
Tenure at Duke. In 1980, Krzyzewski took over as the head coach at Duke University after having accumulated a 73-59 win-loss record in five seasons at Army. Krzyzewski also led Duke to Final Fours in 1994, 1999, 2001, and 2004, with another national championship in 2001. With 69 career wins in the NCAA tournament, Mike Krzyzewski is the winningest coach in the history of the event. During his years at Duke, Krzyzewski has led Duke to eleven Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular-season titles and ten ACC tournament titles (through the 2007-08 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. On February 27, 2008, and March 1, 2008, Krzyzewski earned his 799th and 800th victories as a head coach with a 71-58 win over Georgia Tech and a 87-86 win over North Carolina State.
1994-95 season Krzyzewski coached the first 12 games (9-3) in 1994-95 before taking a leave of absence after having back surgery and recovering from exhaustion.
Coaching awards/recognition. 1986, Basketball Times; CBS/Chevrolet; UPI National COY (Coach of the Year) awards. 1989, Naismith National COY; 1991, NABC National COY; 1992, Naismith and Sporting News National COY (first college basketball coach honored) ; 1997, Basketball Times National COY; 1999, Naismith and NABC National COY; 2000, CBS/Chevrolet National COY; 2001, Victor Awards; 2004, Claire Bee award; 1984, ACC COY; 1986, ACC COY; 1997, ACC COY; 1999, ACC COY; 2000, ACC COY; 2001, Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame; 2001, Time magazine and CNN named Krzyzewski "America's Best Coach” (not limited to any particular sport). Krzyzewski has totaled 800 career victories, making him the second most active coach in the NCAA Division I ranks, behind only Eddie Sutton. His total coaching record through the 2007-08 season is 803-269. During his long tenure at Duke, Krzyzewski has been given the opportunity to coach in the NBA three times: from Boston Celtics in 1990, from Portland’s Trails in 1994 and in 2004 from Los Angeles Lakers. 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". In 2007, Duke named its new basketball practice facility the Michael W. Krzyzewski Center - Dedicated to Academic & Athletic Excellence. Krzyzewski was picked to coach the U.S. men's national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing on October 26, 2005. In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the team won a bronze medal. Krzyzewski was named the 2006 USA Basketball Coach of the Year. On August 24, 2008, Krzyzewski coached the U.S. men's national team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics to their first gold medal since the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Beyond basketball. In recent years, Krzyzewski has become a very popular speaker to corporate management groups. He commanded fees up to $100,000 per session. Additionally, Krzyzewski has been featured in major national advertising campaigns by American Express and General Motors. Critics contend that Krzyzewski's media and corporate exposure gives him an unfair recruiting advantage, but Krzyzewski argues that any such advantage is due to the high level of success achieved by the Duke basketball program over the last twenty years. In March 1994 Krzyzewski was part of a parody of the popular Budweiser/Bud Light advertisement "Yes I am" for CBS to help promote the NCAA Tournament. Krzyzewski is a devout Roman Catholic. He is involved in fundraising for Catholic charitable organizations in North Carolina, including Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. He has also been an active community leader and philanthropist. In the autumn of 2005, he and his family celebrated the opening of the Emily Krzyzewski Family LIFE Center, a community center named in honor of his late mother.
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This article uses, among others, material from the Wikipedia article "Mike Krzyzewski" licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. :
Wikipedia
Other sources:
Academy of Achievement
Mike Krzyzewski's official website
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