Early years and playing career

Krzyzewski was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Polish American, Catholic parents Emily M. (née Pituch) and William Krzyzewski. The family name was originally Krzyżewski, and while the media and general public pronounces it /ʃəˈʃɛfski/ shə-SHEF-ski, his own pronunciation is /ʒəˈʒɛvski/ zhə-ZHEV-ski.

Raised as a Catholic, Krzyzewski attended St. Helen Catholic School in Ukrainian Village, Chicago and, later, Archbishop Weber High School in Chicago, a Catholic prep school for boys. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1969, and played basketball under Bob Knight while training to become an officer in the United States Army. He was captain of the Army basketball team in his senior season, 1968-69, leading his team to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where West Point finished fourth in the tournament.

From 1969 to 1974, Krzyzewski served in the United States Army and directed service teams for three years. In 2005 he was presented West Point's Distinguished Graduate Award.

Coaching career

Indiana and Army

Krzyzewski was discharged from active duty in 1974 and started his coaching career as an assistant on Knight's staff with the Indiana Hoosiers during their historic 1974-75 season. After one year with Indiana, Krzyzewski returned to West Point as head coach of the Army Cadets. He led the Cadets to a 73-59 record and one NIT berth in five seasons.

Duke

On March 18, 1980, Krzyzewski was named the head coach at Duke University after five seasons at Army. After a few rebuilding seasons, he and the Blue Devils became a fixture on the national basketball scene with 30 NCAA Tournament berths in the past 31 years and 21 consecutive from 1996 to 2016, which is the second-longest current streak of tournament appearances behind Kansas, which has appeared in the tournament in 27 consecutive seasons. Overall, he has taken his program to postseason play in 31 of his 34 years at Duke and is the most winning active coach in men's NCAA Tournament play with an 86-25 record for a .767 winning percentage. His Duke teams have won 13 ACC Championships, been to 12 Final Fours, and won five NCAA tournament National Championships.

On February 13, 2010, Krzyzewski coached in his 1,000th game as the Duke head coach. On March 20, 2011, Krzyzewski won his 900th game, becoming the second of three Division I men's basketball coaches to reach 900 basketball wins, the other two being Jim Boeheim at Syracuse and his head coach at Army, Bob Knight. On November 15, 2011, Krzyzewski got his 903rd win passing Knight's record for most Division I wins. In an interview of both men on ESPN the previous night, Krzyzewski discussed the leadership skills he learned from Knight and the United States Military Academy. Knight credited Krzyzewski's understanding of himself and his players as keys to his success over the years.

On January 25, 2014 Krzyzewski won his 900th game with the Duke Blue Devils, making him the second head coach to win 900 games with one NCAA Division I men's basketball program.

On January 25, 2015, Krzyzewski won his 1,000th game, when Duke defeated St. John's in Madison Square Garden. He is the first men's coach to win 1,000 NCAA Division I basketball games.

On April 6, 2015, Krzyzewski won his 5th NCAA championship, when Duke defeated Wisconsin in the title game.

Winning against Yale in the 2016 NCAA tournament on March 19th, Krzyzewski became the all-time winningest coach in the NCAA Division I tournament with 90 total wins.

National team

Krzyzewski has been the head coach of several USA men's national teams, winning a silver medal at the 1987 World University Games, a bronze medal at the 1990 FIBA World Championship, a silver medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games, a bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and gold medals at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2014 FIBA World Cup, and repeat gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics.

He was also an assistant coach to the USA teams which won gold medals at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics as well as the 1979 Pan American Games Team and 1992 Tournament of the Americas.

In 2005, he was appointed coach of the national team through the Beijing Olympics. In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the USA won the bronze medal after losing in the semifinals to Greece and then beating defending Olympic gold medalist Argentina for third place.

On August 24, 2008, Krzyzewski's U.S. team won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. "The Redeem Team" finished the tournament with a perfect 8-0 record. He coached the U.S. team for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and led Team USA to a perfect 9-0 record, defeating host Turkey in the gold medal game, 81-64. His team won a second Olympic gold in London, defeating runners-up Spain 107-100. Krzyzewski has amassed a total record of 75-1 (.987) as head coach of the USA National Team.

In February 2013, Krzyzewski initially stepped down after seven years of coaching the national team, but Team USA in May announced that he would return as head coach from 2013 through 2016.

During his long tenure at Duke, Krzyzewski has been given the opportunity to coach in the NBA at least five times. The first time came after the 1990 season when he led the Blue Devils to their third straight Final Four appearance. The Boston Celtics offered a coaching position to Krzyzewski, but he soon declined their offer. The next season, Krzyzewski proceeded to lead the Blue Devils to the first of two straight national championships. In 1994, he was pursued by the Portland Trail Blazers, but again he chose to stay with Duke. In 2004, Krzyzewski was also interviewed by the Los Angeles Lakers following the departure of high-profile coach Phil Jackson. He was given a formal offer from Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, reportedly for five years, $40 million and part ownership, but again turned down the NBA. In 2010, the New Jersey Nets were reportedly willing to pay Krzyzewski between $12 million and $15 million per season to coach the Nets. Krzyzewski again declined the offer and stayed at Duke. In 2011, Krzyzewski was offered the vacant coaching position for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he again declined the offer and chose to stay at Duke.

Awards and honors

• Five-time NCAA Champion - 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015
• Four-time Olympic Gold Medal winner - 1984, 1992 (assistant coach); 2008, 2012 (head coach)
• Two-time FIBA World Championship Gold Medal winner - 2010, 2014
• Three-time Naismith College Coach of the Year - 1989, 1992, 1999
• Two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee - 2001 (individual career), 2010 (with the "Dream Team")
• College Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2006)
• United States Olympic Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2009 - with the "Dream Team")
• United States Military Academy Sports Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2009)
• Two-time United States Sports Academy Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award winner - 1991, 2008.
• 13-time ACC Champion
• Five-time ACC Coach of the Year - 1984, 1986, 1997, 1999, 2000
• National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
• 2001: Time/CNN America's Best Coach Award
• 2011: Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year"
• 2013: Chicago History Museum Making History Award
• Basketball court at Cameron Indoor Stadium named "Coach K Court"
• Award presented at the United States Military Academy named the "Coach Krzyzewski Teaching Character Through Sports Award"
• Inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State’s highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2014 in the area of sports.

Family and charity

Krzyzewski married his wife, Carol "Mickie" Marsh, in the Catholic chapel at West Point on the day of his graduation in 1969. They have three daughters and nine grandchildren.

Krzyzewski and his family founded the Emily Krzyzewski Center, a non-profit organization in Durham, which was established in 2006 and named in honor of Krzyzewski's mother. The mission is to inspire students from kindergarten to high school to dream big, act with character and purpose, and reach their potential as leaders in their community. The Center's K to College Model serves academically-focused students in out-of-school programming designed to help them achieve in school, gain entry to college, and break the cycle of poverty in their families. Krzyzewski and his wife, Mickie, have also been active for years in fundraising and support for the Duke Children's Hospital, Children's Miracle Network, the V Foundation for Cancer Research. In all of those entities they have both served as chairs and/or led major fundraising efforts. In addition, the Krzyzewskis have been major donors to Duke University in supporting a number of areas, including establishing scholarship endowments for students in North and South Carolina as well as a Duke student-athlete every year.

In 2012, Krzyzewski received the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award honoring his civic service and charitable efforts in making a significant positive impact on society. Krzyzewski participated in Troopathon 2013.

Head coaching record

College

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Army Cadets (NCAA Division I independent)
1975-76	Army	11-14
1976-77	Army	20-8
1977-78	Army	19-9			NIT First Round
1978-79	Army	14-11
1979-80	Army	9-17
Army:		73-59 (.553)
Duke Blue Devils (Atlantic Coast Conference)
1980-81	Duke	17-13	6-8	T-5th	NIT Third Round
1981-82	Duke	10-17	4-10	T-6th
1982-83	Duke	11-17	3-11	7th
1983-84	Duke	24-10	7-7	T-3rd	NCAA Round of 32
1984-85	Duke	23-8	8-6	T-4th	NCAA Round of 32
1985-86	Duke	37-3	12-2	1st	NCAA Runner-up
1986-87	Duke	24-9	9-5	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1987-88	Duke	28-7	9-5	3rd	NCAA Final Four
1988-89	Duke	28-8	9-5	T-2nd	NCAA Final Four
1989-90	Duke	29-9	9-5	2nd	NCAA Runner-up
1990-91	Duke	32-7	11-3	1st	NCAA Champions
1991-92	Duke	34-2	14-2	1st	NCAA Champions
1992-93	Duke	24-8	10-6	T-3rd	NCAA Round of 32
1993-94	Duke	28-6	12-4	1st	NCAA Runner-up
1994-95	Duke	9-3	0-1
1995-96	Duke	18-13	8-8	T-4th	NCAA Round of 64
1996-97	Duke	24-9	12-4	1st	NCAA Round of 32
1997-98	Duke	32-4	15-1	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
1998-99	Duke	37-2	16-0	1st	NCAA Runner-up
1999-00	Duke	29-5	15-1	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2000-01	Duke	35-4	13-3	T-1st	NCAA Champions
2001-02	Duke	31-4	13-3	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2002-03	Duke	26-7	11-5	T-2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2003-04	Duke	31-6	13-3	1st	NCAA Final Four
2004-05	Duke	27-6	11-5	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2005-06	Duke	32-4	14-2	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2006-07	Duke	22-11	8-8	6th	NCAA Round of 64
2007-08	Duke	28-6	13-3	2nd	NCAA Round of 32
2008-09	Duke	30-7	11-5	T-2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2009-10	Duke	35-5	13-3	T-1st	NCAA Champions
2010-11	Duke	32-5	13-3	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011-12	Duke	27-7	13-3	2nd	NCAA Round of 64
2012-13	Duke	30-6	14-4	2nd	NCAA Elite Eight
2013-14	Duke	26-9	13-5	T-3rd	NCAA Round of 64
2014-15	Duke	35-4	15-3	2nd	NCAA Champions
2015-16	Duke	25-11	11-7	T-5th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Duke:		970-262 (.787)	389-159 (.709)
Total:		1,043-321 (.765)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]