Mike Krzyzewski made college basketball history Krzyzewski ran his first basketball program at age 12, when his Chicago elementary school, St. Helen, refused to give him the team he wanted to enter in a CYO league. He placed second in both beat writing and breaking news in the 2019 Associated Press Sports Editors national contest. His wife has poured her considerable energy and intellect into his career. Then, inevitably, the wine runs out. Tone of voice. But he says of Krzyzewski: "I'll be honest with you, I was kind of surprised at how smart I felt like he is. Krzyzewski knows from his time in hospitals that they are big, complex workplaces with hierarchies that stretch from high-paid specialists to residents to nurses to orderlies and janitors. And he was right, the game wasnt over.. It was a tree. The deep relationships forged with well-behaved, diploma-earning hoopsters. No one can replicate Jack Welch's General Electric, but maybe if you listen to him closely enough, and read and reread his best-selling books, you can learn a little something to take back to your own shop. Attracting top talent to Durham was not the slam dunk it is now. And Ive seen beautiful no. Duke basketball showed interest, but former Virginia center is transferring elsewhere, Duke football closes spring practice with an eye on Clemson, and a tough ACC slate, The crazy good moment that fostered Coach Ks approach to his final Duke team, Who are the starting five? Meet Coach Ks family and support system. But Frasher and Spatola have no idea what to get Krzyzewski for a retirement gift. It was the opposite of the guidance you might expect -- which would be to counsel young players to slow down and think about what they were doing. Known by many as the best college coach in basketball history, Coach K was named the head coach at Duke University in 1980. In addition, he has helped raise more than $30 million so far for the Duke basketball "legacy fund," which among other things provides basketball scholarships, and he helped create a 30,000-square-foot community center in downtown Durham (the Emily Krzyzewski Family Life Center, named for his mother). Chris also knew Krzyzewski was right about one thing: The Weeper, as the coach nicknamed it over the following years, wasnt just a plant. (As at most N.C.A.A. He listens to stories about himself like this and howls, wiping tears, sniffing the laughter away. Capt. Jamies mother was going on about the wooded propertys beauty. He was 33. He turned down a job he didn't want. It rained, and my tent just floated away. ), Charlotte Observer and Hickory (NC) Daily Record covering beats including the NFLs Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, University of South Carolina athletics and the S.C. General Assembly. After taking the job and moving to town, Chris had been so determined to make a good impression that he had hired his father-in-laws landscaper, Keith, to plant bushes and lay sod at their new home. There are plenty of shots of Coach K from over the years that you've seen. It's something like a corporate turnaround job. Chris already spoke two of Krzyzewskis languages: those of basketball and West Point. This is from 2014, against Florida State. "Before I got to West Point, I was the golden boy of my neighborhood," he says. The best way to get better as a team is if everyone has ownership, and if you do these things, they will.". He was never going to break John Woodens record of 10 national titles, of course, but these kids pushed him past Wooden with that 13th trip to the Final Four, and Krzyzewski could never fully repay them for that. The game does not reward trickery or surprise -- it has no equivalent of the flea-flicker in football or the squeeze play in baseball -- and true innovations (as opposed to rule changes) are so rare that the last great step into the future was the jump shot, popularized by the N.B.A. Just getting the intense competitor to acknowledge, let alone address, his limitations was a daunting task, according to his wife, Mickie Krzyzewski. He used no notes. He will grimace, of course, and promise to plant it, right next to where the familys new puppy uses the bathroom. Beautiful because those tears proved how much his kids cared, and how hard they had competed. Late in the summer of that year, after coming to his decision, he gave one of the occasional lectures he delivers at the university's Fuqua School of Business. (Duke Athletics), The humble Duke locker room in 1983. Look to the left and you'll moppy-haired, current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas. He is totally compatible with what we do here.". This year's team is a case in point. Mike came in and said, How are you doing, Coach? recalled Jim Oxley, Krzyzewskis close friend and old backcourt partner. Coach K and his wife have three daughters, Debbie Savarino, Lindy Frasher, and Jamie Spatola, who have given them nine grandchildren in total. Krzyzewski and his wife have also been active for years in fundraising and support for the Duke Childrens Hospital, Childrens Miracle Network, the V Foundation for Cancer Research. "His wife and daughters are around constantly," says J. J. Redick, a star of this year's team. There is an element of stealing your girlfriends' parents' liquor, and at the end of the day, you want to bring up the right stuff.. Knight was Krzyzewskis coach at Army from 1966-1969. Chapter 2: Building Your Team, From "Leading With The Heart: Coach K's Successful Strategies For Basketball, Business, And Life", (2000), By Mike Krzyzewski, With Donald T. Phillips. A strong high school principal might be a big man whose booming voice resounds down corridors, or a small-boned woman who once taught English and barely speaks above a whisper. Like Krzyzewski, Spatola played basketball at the U.S. Military Academy and later became an officer in the Army, where he learned to push back on superiors if he disagreed with them. It was that bad.. As a boy, Krzyzewski was nothing more or less than a long-legged kid from West Cortez Street. The United States was embarrassed with a bronze-medal finish at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and Krzyzewski was chosen to reclaim the gold. Peter and Debbie Savarino have four children: Sons Joey Savarino (age 21) and Michael Savarino (age 20); daughters Carly Savarino (age 17) and Emmie Savarino (age 17). Maybe Division II.. The speaker must be a person of high achievement but, ideally, not so lofty in manner that no one can connect with him. "We get a lot of low- and no-maintenance guys," he says. A second-half Spartans surge gave Michigan State a 70-65 edge with 5:10 remaining, raising the specter among Duke faithful that this might be it for Krzyzewski. West Point had a huge impact on me because it put me in positions to fail, so I got comfortable with failure being a part of success. His older brother, Bill (his only sibling), went into the city's fire department and retired after attaining the rank of captain. The M.B.A. students were (as at all top business schools) mostly in their mid-20's or older, and most had already been in the working world. She rolled her eyes sometimes, but she also understood her dad. 's, crooked congressmen and predatory lobbyists who rip off Indian tribes, a man who runs a squeaky-clean program within the dubious world of big-time college sports just might be worth listening to. We couldn't be hysterical or whatever those stereotypes of women are. He has to clearly state goals and invest everyone in reaching them. But when Jordan approached Krzyzewski and addressed him as "Coach," the small nod of respect resonated. In that moment, on that walkway, Krzyzewski with his five national championships, dozen Final Fours, three Olympic gold medals wasnt a coaching icon who built a basketball dynasty using talent, his own instincts and relentless attention to detail. Alan D. Schwartz is the president of Bear Stearns, a Wall Street firm that generated more than $7 billion in revenue last year. But her dad, Mike Krzyzewski, who was cradling two bottles of fine Napa Valley wine, seemed transfixed by this thing next to the walkway. And let's deal with that honestly, in a way that does not demean some or inflate the egos of others, and design a system that allows everyone to use their talents well. I'm a hybrid, which I think you should be.". Hes like Division III, and Im NBA. It started in an old, dusty fieldhouse near the river at West Point and ended in the Superdome in New Orleans. After that, the boy who never wanted to be a soldier was granted his wish, more or less. They came together in the nick of time, delivered those remarkable five endgame minutes against Michigan State in their second NCAA Tournament game, and sent Coach K on this wild ride. Here he argues a call in a 2013 game against Virginia. Meet Duke coach Mike Krzyzewskis wife Carol Mickie Krzyzewski's teams turn a yearly profit for Duke. Did she comment on matters involving basketball, like how a certain play should be run? When asked if he thinks it's easier for him to coach the kind of students he is able to attract, Krzyzewski says their backgrounds do not make them smarter players, necessarily, but do give them other attributes he finds useful. Krzyzewski nearly left Duke in 2004. And then turning down millions to stay on campus. About a month into the current basketball season, Krzyzewski's 26th at Duke, I walked into his cubbyhole of an office at Cameron Indoor Stadium, just steps away from the basketball court. 0:51 The relationship between Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski began as one between teacher and student. While this is sad news for college basketball fans everywhere, its a positive thing for his family, whom he can spend more time with post-retirement. 40 Years Before He Retired, Mike Krzyzewski Was Jamie has taught high school English, co-authored two books with her father and is vice chair of the Emily K Center, a college access nonprofit for Durham students. He was an engaged, if occasionally awkward, listener while his daughters were teenagers. (Getty Images), It's Coach K in fatigues -- well after his West point years. Duke, led by Redick's 41 points, ran Texas right off the court, 97-66. I said to him once, 'You may be better at what you do than anybody I know is at what they do."'. (Getty Images. Still, in a sport that draws heavily from a poor, inner-city population, Krzyzewski gets more than his share of kids who are the sons of white-collar professionals, teachers, nurses, coaches and pastors. They're like three teenage boys going down there, giggling and excited, Lindy says. Coach said he did more (expletive) for (Krzyzewski) than he did for his own kids, or as much.. It is far more difficult, but ultimately more rewarding, to try to understand it. Dont you think? This is hardly profound. Krzyzewski finds the exchange hilarious. What are we going to bring, something that we picked up at Harris Teeter?. And that was precisely the problem, Krzyzewski explained, in the same excruciating detail as if he were correcting a freshmans mechanics on a jump shot. He is set to succeed Coach K as Duke head coach starting in the 2022-23 season. Coach K and Bobby Knight: A season on the bench, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. That afternoon's practice was soon to begin, and he told me, with evident glee, that he planned to rip into his players. His forays into the corporate world are a way to stay engaged and, to some extent, to keep from getting bored by basketball. Barry Svrluga: Coach Ks greatness was never his system. Who pays for dinner when youre out with Coach K? Having gotten married a decade prior, Mickie was able to see her husbands entire career unfold, standing by his side for some incredibly important moments. He gets along well with his father-in-law, but this wasnt just pasta night with the family. ", Later, after we spoke, Krzyzewski confronted his team behind closed doors. She also has a masters degree from Pepperdine. His five national titles equal the combined total won by Roy Williams (3) and Smith (2). Here is a look at Mickie Krzyzewski, the wife of Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. If you read a sampling of books and other advice on leadership, a recurring theme emerges: managers should be more "interactive" and less "command and control," meaning they should share rather than hoard information, spread decision making and initiative across all levels of the company, and make clear that individual goals can be met only through team success. Krzyzewski joined Duke as head coach in 1980 with his wife and three young daughters in tow, a quintet he, according to his grandson Michael Savarino, lovingly How has Coach K reached this point in his career, and whats next? They all win. (Duke Athletics), It's 1987, and this is former Duke star/current Harvard coach Tommy Amaker celebrating a win with Krzyzewski. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. It was also important, Jamie says, for her young family to establish and protect boundaries, showing respect to Krzyzewski but not necessarily appeasing him. Mike Krzyzewski was, now, to his admirers, his corporate acolytes and -- well, O.K., probably not to the author of the anti-Duke manifesto -- ever more worthy of admiration. (Duke Athletics), With his daughters, Debbie and Lindy, in the 1990s. He finally said, OK, thats the end of that,'" Krzyzewski's son in lawChris Spatola told O'Connor. The best insights from the ultimate insiders, 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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In a ceremony and news conference Thursday morning in Durham, N.C., Duke mens basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski explained his decision to retire next spring as Michael Jordan was part of that team, and one day after practice he asked Krzyzewski to help him work on some offensive moves. It was an important rite of passage, as it is for any young couple, something of a graduation into adulthood. Krzyzewski said on Thursday that what changed most was he began to listen more, which helped give him balance. In Krzyzewski's office that day, a few minutes after he thrust his clawed hand toward my chest, I said to him that I had noticed something about his approach to leadership: despite the unquestioned authority he commands, his style, on balance, is more feminine than masculine. Now the Blue Devils have to deal with those consequences of losing one of the biggest games in the sports history to their neighbors. They're not used to that. (USATSI). Debbie and Lindy were born prior to Coach K coming to Duke while their youngest daughter, Jamie, was born after the family settled in North Carolina. LOOK: Unfamiliar photos of Mike Krzyzewski through the years After Tuesday's win, Mike Krzyzewski celebrated with his wife of 42 years, Mickie. I was a West Point grad, and I was a good husband. "I had never known someone who could be so honest and so blatantly stupid," Mickie Krzyzewski told me. The first time we went out in the field to put up a tent, guys were digging ditches around them, in case it rained. ACC Now Podcast: How many ACC players will go in the NFL Draft first round? If he hadn't enrolled at Duke to play basketball, he could have played football at Notre Dame. March 5, 2022. No parents involved, he said. She was born to Knight was Krzyzewskis coach at Army from 1966-1969. Mickie Krzyzewski was raised in Alexandria, Va., and attended a small Southern Baptist college, but left before graduating. The Army, all boys. Jamie was caught in the middle of this, essentially two rams clashing over a tree nobody liked. ), The 1992 Dream Team coaching staff, from left: Lenny Wilkens, Chuck Daly, Mike Krzyzewski and P.J. Whats next for Mike Krzyzewski after Duke? As a result, many have shown curiosity to know about his family life. Being a salesman is part of the job, and he should get credit for that.". Krzyzewski issued frequent reminders that men could and would fail them. Who is Mike Krzyzewski's wife Mickie? | The US Sun Mickie Krzyzewski You could certainly break a kid like that by giving him more than he could handle, but it would not be easy. But Krzyzewski has cleverly framed the setup so that the responsibility flows both ways, telling the freshmen that the season will rise and fall on their performance: "I've said, 'Look, we don't have time to wait for you. Man, Im glad we got this done, Chris remembers saying before dinner that night. He wrote that you should remember how you (expletive) got your job, said one prominent friend of both men., OConnor wrote that Krzyzewski had tears in his eyes and sure did not look like a man who had just advanced to the national championship game for a third straight year. Krzyzewski grew up on the North Side of Chicago, and even after his quarter-century in Durham, N.C., you can still hear, in his nasal voice, inflections of the old neighborhood. Sixty-three years later, its all over. Krzyzewski said he felt intimidated by Jordan, who was not only a huge National Basketball Association star but had played for the University of North Carolina, Duke's archrival. This is why nearly anyone who has been successful can go out on the road as a leadership expert or write one of the dozens of books that are published on the subject each year. Because he was stubborn, he said during a 2019 interview with The Washington Post, he wouldnt get rid of the damn thing. He played for Bob Knight at Army, and early in his coaching career, he adopted some of Knights more infamous coaching habits, often being combative with journalists and belittling players to the point of making them cry. Since then Coach K has taken every opportunity to outline their many differences while still staying on Knights good side wherever that is undoubtedly a stickier task than teaching dozens of trophy makers how to spell his name., More:Coach K and Bobby Knight: A season on the bench. It's a half-day of a weeklong program and is taught primarily by Krzyzewski's student managers. On an early date, to a Chicago Bears football game, he somehow revealed that she had been his third choice, after two others turned him down. You would have two or three variables, or maybe five. He has the right to his own standards. So, three national championships and 10 Final Four appearances, all achieved with his usual roster of clean-cut all-Americans, and now this: the high priest of Blue Devils basketball as corporate icon. As a former participant at Dukes basketball camp who has known Jamie since they were teenagers, Chris has been in the Krzyzewski orbit for years. Lindy graduated from Wake Forest in 1999 with a psychology degree with minors in Spanish and theater. PricewaterhouseCoopers has so far sent about 500 senior associates and managers -- most of them "partners in the making," as they were described to me -- to study Duke basketball in a "metaphoric context" to help them reach personal and professional goals. But as Krzyzewski took the reins at Duke and became a rising star in the coaching ranks, the tone gradually shifted. They have three daughters: Debbie, Lindy, and Jamie. After completing his commitment to the Army, he spent five years on Dukes mens basketball staff as a graduate assistant and director of basketball operations. They're at the Yongsan Army Base Seoul, South Korea. Knight said, 'You know what, Mike, if you want, Ill go over there with you. He enjoys living well, but it's clear that his peripatetic off-court life is something other than a money grab. But family gatherings sometimes qualify, and though Spatola and Frasher have learned the ways of the fermented grape, they still struggle with the deeper function of this exercise. But the final break in the relationship, OConnor says, came in 2015. We're all about the end of the story, the punch line. Krzyzewski I wouldn't have recruited you if it wasn't."' Coach K celebrates after winning against Miami in 2013. Loud and clear.". Emily Krzyzewski was famous for her chocolate chip cookies, and Mlynski remembers the half-gallon of ice cream she served with every meal. Her family also is responsible for that jet-black hair. All Rights Reserved. Apr 2, 2022. (He was dressed in his Army "blues," a formal uniform he'd become eligible to wear only a few hours earlier, when he graduated as an officer.) "Having the talent that Mike has -- the best, the brightest -- makes some things easier and some things harder," he says. I turned down $40 million. "There's an empathetic part of leadership, and this is where my wife and my daughters have had a huge impact on me," Krzyzewski says. "Mike's ability to take risks has helped him, and it was risky, at the time, to include us like he did," she says. 4 recruit in Class of 2024, commits to Arizona, NBA announces 242 players declaring early for draft, SEC considers hefty penalties for court storming. "They're like my little brothers, and I'd kill someone on their behalf if I had to.". They're all good. Debbie works on Dukes faculty as assistant director of athletics, Lindy works as a staff counsellor at Duke and works with the basketball team, and Jamie graduated from Duke University in English and is an author. Krzyzewski's credo is teamwork -- no one person can do it alone -- and his family has been his team. ), his job was even rumored to be in danger. Mike Krzyzewski sets wins record They remembered the feeling that the detail brought, and the feeling before that, where as men we remember only the final feeling.
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