Mike Krzyzewski is arguably the best college basketball coach ever.
If you are planning to argue that, you had better bring some good material.
Coach K is the winningest coach ever in men's college basketball (1,196). That's not even just Division I basketball, that's all NCAA divisions. Herb Magee has 53 fewer wins and is still coaching at Thomas Jefferson University.
Krzyzewski also has the highest winning percentage of any coach in the top 10 on the wins list (.766). The only two coaches with a higher win percentage from the top 50 are two former North Carolina coaches: Roy Williams and Dean Smith.
On Saturday, Coach K will coach in his last ever game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It will also–barring a matchup in the ACC tournament–be the last game he coaches in the historic rivalry between Duke and North Carolina.
We took a look at some of the mind-blowing records and trends from Krzyzewski's historic career.
Career at Duke Overall
1123-306 SU (.786)
759-652-18 ATS (.538)
Career at Cameron Indoor Stadium
572-75 SU (.884)
361-275-11 ATS (.568)
Career ACC Regular Season and Conference Tournament
533-215 SU (.713)
377-359-12 ATS (.512)
Coach K vs. UNC
50-46 SU
46-48-2 ATS
22-18 SU at home
18-23 SU on road
10-5 SU Neutral site
Duke vs. North Carolina Series
7517: Duke total pts
7468: UNC total pts
Last 100 Games in series: 51-49 Duke
Saturday is 257th all-time meeting (UNC 141-115)
True Road Games at Duke
272-154 SU (.638)
True Neutral Games at Duke
279-77 SU (.784)
Career at Duke vs. Ranked Teams
238-155 SU (.606)
Career ACC Regular Season
466-192 SU (.708)
Career ACC Regular Season Games at Cameron Indoor Stadium
265-64 SU (.805)
Career ACC Road Regular Season
201-128 SU (.611)
ACC Tournament
67-23 SU (.744)
NCAA Tournament
97-30 SU (.764)
Career Overall
1196-365 SU (.766)
42nd year coaching Duke
47th year coaching overall
Five-time national champion
12-time Final Four coach
1,196 wins most of any Division I men’s coach
533 ACC regular and postseason wins, most all-time
In the Coach K era, Duke is…
223-126 (.639) overall when each team is ranked in the top 25
146-87 (.629) overall when each team is ranked in the top 15
89-63 (.586) overall when each team is ranked in the top 10
34-18 (.654) when each team is ranked in the top five
(Straight Up)
Coach K has won 16 road games vs AP top 5 teams – most in the history of AP Poll.
Coach K has 1,123 of Duke’s 2,240 total wins – 50.1%.
Longest Active Streak Finishing Above .500 in Conference Play:
33 – Kansas
27 – Duke
11 – Oregon
11 – Virginia
Coach K and Jim Calhoun are the only coaches in NCAA history to win a title in three different decades.
Between 1996 and 2019, Duke made the NCAA Tournament 24 consecutive times. This is the longest streak in history, just ahead of Dean Smith’s 23 straight trips (1975-97).
Krzyzewski holds NCAA Tournament records for games coached (127) and wins (97).
He has reached the Sweet 16 on 25 occasions, six more than any other coach in NCAA history.
Coach K’s 35 NCAA Tournament appearances with Duke are the most for any head coach all-time.
Coach K has coached 208 different players since taking over Duke in 1980.
Coach K Titles at Duke
15 – ACC Tournament
12 – ACC Regular Season
5 – National Titles
Duke as No. 1 in AP Poll Under Coach K
255 games (most in NCAA history for one coach)
219-36 SU
161 games unranked
Coach K and NBA Draft
- 42 first round players – draft record (24 last 10 years) – 68 players overall drafted under Coach K
- Between Duke & USA Basketball, Coach K has coached 113 NBA players.
- USA Basketball has a record of 88-1 under Coach K (24-0 at Olympics).
Coach K By Wins
- 1st overall – 11/28/75 vs. Lehigh
- 1000th overall – 1/25/15 vs. St John’s
- 1st at Duke – 11/29/80 vs. Stetson
- 1000th at Duke – 11/11/17 vs. Utah Valley
- 1st at Cameron – 11/29/80 vs. Stetson
- 500th at Cameron – 2/4/17 vs. Pitt—–Five national championships (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015)
Additional Accolades
- Six gold medals as head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team
- Nine National Players of the Year (11 honors)
- Six National Defensive Players of the Year (nine honors)
- 10 consecutive top-10 AP poll finishes (1997-06)
- 12 National Coach of the Year honors (eight seasons)
- 12 Final Four appearances (tied for most in NCAA history)
- 12 ACC regular season championships
- 15 ACC Tournament championships (most in league history)
- 28 NBA Lottery picks (most in Draft history)
- 35 NCAA Tournament bids (most by one coach)
- 37 All-America selections (51 honors)
- 67 ACC Tournament wins (most in league history)
- 68 NBA Draft selections, including 42 first-round pick
- 97 NCAA Tournament wins (most in NCAA history)
- 127 weeks ranked No. 1 in the AP poll (most by a coach in poll history)
- 532 ACC wins (most in league history)
- 573 weeks ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll (most by a coach in poll history)
- 666 weeks ranked in the AP poll (most by a coach in poll history)
- 1,122 victories at Duke (most in NCAA history)
