Duke University’s Mike Krzyzewski, the all-time winningest coach in men’s Division I college basketball, is set to retire following the Blue Devils upcoming 2021-2022 season, according to reports from ESPN and Stadium. CNN has reached out to Duke for confirmation but has yet to hear back.
“Coach K,” as he is affectionately known, has led the men’s program to five national championships in 41 seasons and won 1,170 games overall. Duke won its national championships under Krzyzewski in 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 and 2015, according to the NCAA.
Krzyzewski held a coaching position at the US Military Academy Prep School in Belvoir, Virginia, and a graduate assistantship at Indiana University before becoming the head coach at his alma mater in West Point, where he would coach from 1975 until 1980 when he took the head coaching gig at Duke, according to Duke and West Point’s websites.
While at Duke, Krzyzewski developed some of the biggest stars in the NBA including Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, center, huddles with his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina State on February 13, 2021.
Outside of Duke, Krzyzewski was also appointed head basketball coach of the United States National Team in 2005. Under his reign, Team USA won gold medals in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics, according to Duke’s website.
Krzyzewski, who will turn 75 in February 2022, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.
Krzyzewski’s retirement announcement comes two months after his legendary rival, UNC head coach Roy Williams, retired in April.
“Mike’s been fantastic for the game of basketball. He’s been fantastic for college basketball. He’s been fantastic for the ACC, the greatest rivalry in sports — Duke-North Carolina basketball,” Williams told the Fayetteville Observer Wednesday. “He’s been a good friend, he’s been a guy I respected a great deal. He made everybody bring their A-game for years.”
Krzyzewski has chosen Duke’s assistant coach and former Blue Devils player, Jon Scheyer, to become the school’s next head coach, according to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.
