Michael "Mike" Krzyzewski

Although Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching career began modestly at the United States Military Academy in 1976, over the next two decades the former Army point guard developed into one of the greatest college basketball coaches of his time. Coach K arrived at Duke University in 1980 where his coaching style and his commitment to combining high academic standards with college athletics has often been compared to UCLA’s John Wooden. Named the NABC Coach of the Decade for the 1990s, Krzyzewski led Duke to five straight Final Four appearances beginning in 1988. The Blue Devils even won back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992, making Krzyzewski the first coach to accomplish that feat since 1973. Krzyzewski waited nearly a decade to return to the top of the college basketball world but Final Fours in 1994 and 1999, along with national championships in 2001 and 2010, meant Duke was a perennial power program. In 2008, Krzyzewski was the head coach of the U.S. Olympic Gold Medal “Redeem Team,” evidence that his ability to lead, to coach, to achieve is unparalleled in basketball.