Mike Krzyzewski, Duke’s head coach, picked up a new nickname Sunday after he snagged his 1,000th career win. Now Coach K goes by the name of Coach 1K. Duke basketball ranked number 5, made a comeback against St. Johns in the second half, winning 77-68 at Madison Square Garden. Krzyzewski is now the first Division I men’s coach to reach this milestone.
Tyus Jones scored 22 points and Jahlil Okafor had 17 points and 10 rebounds to help Duke go on a 18-2 run down the stretch and secure the 1000th win for Coach K.
Krzyzewski started out as an assistant on Bobby Knight’s staff for the Indiana Hoosiers in 1974. The next year he became the head coach at Navy and held a record of 73-59 in five seasons before taking the head coaching position at Duke.
While coaching at Duke, Krzyzewski has picked up four national championships (1991, 1992, 2001 and 2010) along with 11 Final Four appearances in 38 trips to the NCAA tournament. The 67-year-old has improved his record to 1,000-308.
“There will be others that win more, but it is kind of neat to be the first one to 1,000 [wins]. I am proud of that, too. It’s not just the number of wins, but the quality of opponents we’ve had,” said Krzyzewski in an interview with ABC News.
Everyone in the sports world was buzzing after this tremendous milestone on Sunday.
From Leesville’s Coach Frazier’s perspective, 1000 wins is a tremendous accomplishment.
“That is consistency over time, and it’s pretty amazing to be that consistent over that long of a time at that high of a level. Work ethic, consistency and loyalty can be learned from Kryzyewski,” said Frazier.
The Chronicle, Duke’s school newspaper interviewed Christian Laettner, former Duke player who played in the NBA. “Having played with him for four years and being on the court with him everyday for four years, it’s easy for me to see why he does have that success year after year after year. He just does everything the right way and he is a great leader,” said Laettner.
The only other person to reach 1,000 wins is Pat Summitt, the retired head coach of women’s basketball at the University of Tennessee. Summitt reached this in 2009 and holds a record of 1098-208.
Krzyzewski will continue to coach the Blue Devils in hopes that they have their 20th consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
