Former Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski received the honors of Coach K Court and Krzyzewskiville years ago. The same goes for the banner in Cameron Indoor Stadium recognizing his accomplishment in becoming — and remaining — the Division I men’s coach with the most victories (1,202) in history.
As of Tuesday night, the five-time national champion’s record is now forever on full display in Christl Arena, home of the Army Black Knights. Coach K, now three and a half years removed from his last game as head coach but still serving as Ambassador to Duke University, was on hand where he used to play and coach decades ago, this time to watch his successor, Jon Scheyer, and the No. 4-ranked Blue Devils battle the unranked Black Knights.
Before tipoff, Army paid tribute to the 78-year-old Chicago native by unveiling its version of his banner as the all-time wins leader.
As advertised on the banner, Krzyzewski graduated from West Point in 1969 and returned six years later to become head coach of the Black Knights, a position he held for five seasons (73-59 overall record) before assuming the reins in Durham in 1980 and ultimately serving as head coach of the Blue Devils for 42 years.
The 5,326 fans in attendance to honor Coach K and watch the Blue Devils face the Black Knights marked an all-time Christl Arena record.“For us to do this on Veterans Day was incredibly meaningful, especially to share this with Coach K and our players,” the 38-year-old Scheyer, who was the starting point guard on Krzyzewski’s 2010 national title team before serving as a Blue Devil assistant for the 2015 championship run, explained during his opening statement following Duke’s 114-59 true road win in West Point.
“They don’t get a lot of time to be around him. For Coach K to share in it with our players was very meaningful for me.”Coach Krzyzewski’s impact on the Duke basketball program will live on forever.
