Krzyzewski is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and played point guard for the Cadet team coached by Bob Knight. He retired from active duty in 1974 and started his coaching career as an assistant on Knight's staff in Indiana.
After one year in Bloomington, Krzyzewski returned to West Point as head coach. He led the Cadets to a 73-59 record and one NIT berth in five seasons, before leaving for the job that would make him a legend.
Krzyzewski took over at Duke for the 1980-81 season, leading the Blue Devils to a 17-13 record and the NIT quarterfinals in his first year. In his fourth season he earned his first NCAA Tournament berth with the Devils. Apparently he liked the experience; he's set up semi-permanent residence in the field of 64, missing March Madness just once in the last quarter century. (If you want to get technical, he wasn't even coaching the team that missed out. Krzyzewski left the 1994-95 Blue Devils after 12 games due to health problems. They were coached for the remainder of the year by assistant Pete Gaudet -- and had a rough time of it, going 4-15 in Coach K's absence.)
Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils won their first national title in 1991 with a squad featuring Bobby Hurley, Thomas Hill, Grant Hill and Christian Laettner that has to be considered one of the best ever. They repeated as champions in 1992 thanks in part to one of the most legendary shots in NCAA history.
Krzyzewski followed up that '92 title by winning Olympic gold as an assistant coach with the original Dream Team.
He cut down the nets a third time in 2001, with a team loaded with future NBA players Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy, Chris Duhon and Jason Williams. He was also inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Krzyzewski has served as the head coach of Team USA since 2005. He won the bronze medal at the FIBA World Championships in 2006, and will seek Olympic gold in Beijing this summer.
