Biography: Mike Krzyzewski
Collegiate Basketball Champion

Mike Krzyzewski (pronounced Sha-shef-ski) was born in Chicago and raised on the city's Northwest side, among other working class Polish-American families. His father was an elevator operator, his mother a cleaning woman. The family shared a two-story home with relatives. From an early age, Mike showed enthusiasm for all sports, but by high school he was focusing on basketball. As a high school athlete, he made such an impression he was recruited by coach Bob Knight for the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he became captain of the basketball team. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1974.

During his military service, he coached service teams and served for two years as head coach at the U.S. Military Academy Prep School at Belvoir, Virginia. After resigning from the service with the rank of Captain in 1974, Krzyzewski worked as a graduate assistant to his old Army coach, Bob Knight, at Indiana University.

The following year, he returned to West Point as Head Coach. In 1980, he accepted an invitation to become Head Coach at Duke University, where he has remained. The first three seasons, were disappointing, but over the next few years Coach K., as he is often called, led the Duke program through a remarkable turnaround. In 1984, Krzyzewski led his Blue Devils into the NCAA tournament for the first time.

In 1986 Krzyzewski's team reached the Final Four and came within one game of winning the championship. In that year, they had played more games than any other team in the history of college basketball. With the departure of the five seniors on the squad, many observers expected a sharp decline in Duke's basketball fortunes but Krzyzewski's 1987 Devils won 24 games and made it to the Sweet 16, losing to Indiana, which went on to win the national championship.

From 1988 to 1992, Coach K. led his team to the Final Four for five consecutive seasons. The legendary John Wooden of UCLA is the only other coach in the history of the tournament to perform this feat. In 1990, Duke again came within only one game of winning the national championship.

Krzyzewski at last led Duke to its first national championship in 1991. In the banner year of 1992, Duke maintained the national number one ranking throughout the season, and again won the national title, this time by 20 points. Mike Krzyzewski is the only coach since John Wooden to win two consecutive NCAA championships. In '92 The Sporting News named Krzyzewski Sportsman of the Year. He is the first college coach to have been so honored.

In 1994, the Duke team made it to the championship game again, losing to Arkansas by only four points. After the tournament, Coach K. underwent back surgery and was forced to take a ten-month break from coaching, but he returned to lead the Blue Devils into three more NCAA tournaments in 1996, 1997 and 1999.

Mike Krzyzewski is the winningest coach in the history of Duke's basketball program. He has led Duke to the Final Four in nine seasons, including the back-to-back tournaments from 1988 to 1992. Krzyzewski has placed his team in more NCAA tournament Final Fours than any coaches other than UCLA's Wooden and Dean Smith of North Carolina. He has won 10 Final Four games, more than anyone but UCLA's Wooden., and has the highest winning percentage in the NCAA tournament of any currently active coach.

With Duke's victory over Arizona in the 2001 tournament, Krzyzewski won his third championship, tying him with his old coach, Bob Knight, and leaving him only one behind Kentucky's Adolph Rupp. He has won more 10 Final Four games, more than anyone but John Wooden.

Throughout his career, Coach K. has seen himself as more than a coach to his players. During his tenure at Duke, of all the students who have played for him for four seasons, only two have failed to graduate on time. No other NCAA Division I college basketball team can make this claim. Krzyzewski has been named Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (1991), The Sporting News (1992), and Basketball Times (1997).

Coach Krzyzewski, and many of his players, are also active in international basketball. He served as head coach of the bronze-winning American team at the FIBA World Championships and won a Silver medal at the Goodwill Games in Seattle. He assisted his old mentor Bob Knight at the 1984 Olympics and has served as chairman of the Player Selection Committee for all U.S. teams, including the 1991 Pan Am Team and the 1992 Olympic Team. As assistant coach to the legendary "Dream Team" he shared in the gold medal won by the U.S. at Barcelona. On October 26, 2005 Coach Krzyzewski was selected to be the head coach for the 2008 USA Olympic Senior National basketball team. With players like Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Jason Kidd, Team USA claimed their spot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and brought home the gold medal.

Mike Krzyzewski makes his home in Durham, North Carolina where he and his wife Mickie have been active in community campaigns against drug abuse and drunk driving. The Coach and Mrs. Krzyzewsi are co-chairs of the Duke Children's Miracle Network Telethon.