Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest coach in college basketball history, plans to retire after one more season with the Blue Devils, the university’s athletic department announced Wednesday.
The 74-year-old Hall of Famer has coached at Duke for the past 41 seasons and has led the program to five national championships and 15 ACC titles. His retirement comes only a month after longtime rival Roy Williams stepped down at North Carolina and completes an extreme changing of the guard in the Triangle.
Duke athletic director Kevin White also announced his retirement recently.
Former Blue Devils point guard and current assistant coach Jon Scheyer has been named as Krzyzewski’s successor and will serve as “coach in waiting” during the coming season.
“My family and I view today as a celebration,” Krzyzewski said in a statement announcing his retirement plans. “Our time at both West Point and Duke has been beyond amazing and we are thankful and honored to have led two college programs at world-class institutions for more than four decades.”
A disciple of Bobby Knight, who he surpassed on the career wins list in 2011, Krzyzewski came to Duke from Army and transformed the program into the gold standard of college basketball. Last season’s team, however, struggled amid the coronavirus pandemic and finished with a 13-11 record, missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995.
In addition to his 1,170 victories and 12 Final Four appearances, he has also led the United States to three Olympic gold medals.
“Certainly I have been blessed to coach some of the finest players in basketball history as a direct result of these unique opportunities,” Krzyzewski said. “For us, there is no greater joy than being part of our players’ respective endeavors through basketball, and more importantly, their lives off the court.”
Scheyer, 33, will become the 20th coach in Duke history. He played for Coach K from 2006-10 and was part of the Blue Devils’ 1010 national championship. He has been part of the Blue Devils’ staff for the past eight seasons and helped recruit and develop the players that contributed to the school’s 2015 national title.
“Duke University has been a central part of my life for more than a decade,” Scheyer said. “I could not ask for a better place to continue my career. This is absolutely humbling.’
