THE POP EXPOSE – Farewell to Duke legend Coach K!
Story by Mitchell Smith
Hello everyone today I’m taking a look at legendary college basketball coach Michael William Krzyzewski or better known as Coach K of the Duke Blue Devils. Coach K was born in 1947 in Chicago. He played point guard at West Point and graduated from the Army in 1969 where he put in 4 more years as an officer and was discharged from duty as a Captain. He then went to be an assistant coach with the Indiana Hoosiers under legendary coach Bob Knight. In 1980 Coach K landed the head coaching position at Duke.
He would take the team and the program and turn it into a complete success. Coach K is one of the most successful coaches in NCAA basketball. Coach K also coached the first Olympic Dream Team with stars like Jordan, Barkley, Magic, Bird and Christian Laettner who had the famous last second shot to give Duke a win over Kentucky in the NCAA tournament. Coach K turned down several NBA offers and has stayed at Duke. At 75 Coach K has made his final run as coach. All the ACC opponents have done a special send off on their home court’s and after a loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels on his last home game thousands of fans sat quietly as Coach K prepared to give a special post game speech.
Earlier in the week Coach K’s long time friend Coach Boeheim said at this point it’s not about the money or the wins and losses, it’s about the kids you have and shaping their lives. Coach K mentioned how much he loves Duke but his family always comes first, and he also mentioned how much he loves his current and past players and gave a shout out to all his faithful fans. It was an emotional night and Coach K will have more work ahead as conference and the NCAA tournaments approach.
Overall, love him or hate him, it’s hard to argue the success, the heart, and the dedication to college basketball Coach K has given us over the past 42 years. He will be missed but his legacy will be with us especially with all the Duke Fans for years and years to come.
