Brill: 700 Not Final Milestone For Coach K

Dec. 11, 2004

By Bill Brill Blue Devil Weekly

Mike Krzyzewski will become the 17th member of the 700 Club if his undefeated Blue Devils defeat Toledo on Sunday, Dec. 12.

Coach K joins a list that features five other active coaches, including his own college coach, Bob Knight, who is third behind Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp. Knight, now at Texas Tech after 661 wins at Indiana and a coaching start at Army where Krzyzewski was his point guard, was the only person to reach 700 at a younger age.

Krzyzewski will be 57 years and 302 days old on Sunday, or 57 years, 10 months and one day, if you wish. Smith, who holds the record of 879 that Knight is likely to break by the end of the 2006 campaign or early the following season, was approaching 60 when he got his 700th at North Carolina. That came on Jan. 9, 1991, against Maryland. Smith was 50 days short of his 60th birthday.

The other active coaches over 700, in order of their career victories, are Lou Henson of New Mexico State, who won most of his games at Illinois; Eddie Sutton of Oklahoma State; Lute Olson of Arizona; and John Chaney of Temple, a Duke opponent next month. All except Sutton, 68, are over 70.

Coach K also is 12th on the list of most victories at one school. He now has 626 at Duke and passed John Wooden during the NCAAs last spring. The only coach he'll catch this year is Missouri's Norm Stewart, who finished his career with 634, but next season he'll move past three or four others.

The only active coach with more wins at one school is Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, now in his 30th season. This is year 25 for Coach K, who started this year 55 wins behind Boeheim in that category, although he led his good friend by 18 overall. In fact, the two guys right behind Krzyzewski overall are Connecticut's Jim Calhoun and Boeheim. They need 20 and 24 triumphs this season to reach the 700 threshold.

These are all just numbers, of course, and Duke's Hall of Fame coach never has been a man concerned with that sort of mathematics.

However, having elected to remain in Durham after the Los Angeles Lakers offered the bank in July, Krzyzewski is all but certain to finish his career at Duke.

After never discussing the future much in recent years, he has said on several occasions post-Lakers that he intends to coach for a long time. As long as he retains the passion, he said.

Well, if you saw him down on his knees pounding the floor for the defense after Daniel Ewing's three put a knife in Michigan State last week, or saw him exhorting the Crazies to create even more bedlam, or watched his smile and acknowledgement of a job well done by the students when that first major test was over, you were looking at a man who loves his work and plans to keep doing it for the foreseeable future.

Since nobody knows how long Knight will coach and how high he'll raise the bar, there's no telling how far Coach K will have to climb to be the winningest coach ever. You certainly should not count him out, not that he'll care about such things.

Although Duke went to seven Final Fours in nine years from 1986 through 1994, and won back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992, Krzyzewski's most successful five-year period has been the most recent.

From 2000 through last season, the first four of which included ACC championships plus the third NCAA title in 2001, Duke went 152-26, or 30.4 victories per season. In three of those years the Blue Devils won at least 30 games, including last year (31-6). Duke now has an all-time collegiate record of eight 30-win seasons, all under Coach K.

At that rate, Krzyzewski would have around 925 victories by the time he reached 65 on Feb. 13, 2012, and perhaps 935 or so by the end of that season. Knight began this year with 832. It would take him four or five more good teams to get that many.

The important thing to understand is that Krzyzewski, typically, has performed at his best when challenged the most.

It was only after the 1999 season, when Duke finished 37-2 by losing to UConn in the national championship game, that the Blue Devils lost their first-ever player to NBA defections. And they did it in a big way as national player of the year Elton Brand, fellow sophomore William Avery and freshman Corey Maggette all left early while sophomore Chris Burgess transferred.

Left only with veterans Chris Carrawell, Shane Battier and Nate James and six freshmen, Duke went 29-5 and reached the Sweet 16. In 2002, juniors Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer announced before the season they were going pro (Williams graduated in three years) and Mike Dunleavy joined them in May. Williams and Dunleavy were drafted 2-3 behind 7-5 Yao Ming and became the only the second set of teammates ever selected that high. The first time was in 1969.

Stripped again of their veteran firepower, the Blue Devils finished 26-7 after winning the ACC crown for the fifth straight season and reaching the Sweet 16.

This year, Duke is without last year's rookie sensation, Luol Deng, and high school superstar Shaun Livingston never enrolled. They both went to the NBA, as did senior All-America Chris Duhon. Livingston and Deng were picked fourth and seventh in the NBA draft. Deng and Duhon now start for the Chicago Bulls.

That meant seven players -- three juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen -- left school early and a 6-7 point guard never showed up. No other school in the nation has had anywhere near that many stars leave for the pro ranks.

As a result, Duke was selected fourth in preseason in the ACC, a league it has dominated for the past eight years with a 108-20 record. Maryland is next at 86-42, while North Carolina is third at 74-54. I would submit that no matter how strong you believe the ACC to be with seven teams in the Top 25 at the moment, history indicates that you should not overlook K's kids.

Here are some more of the outstanding achievements in the past 20 years, otherwise known as Duke Dominates:

Ten Final Fours, more than any other conference except the SEC, which also had 10. Kansas and North Carolina each have six.
In the previous seven years, Duke has been No. 1 in the polls at some time. The Blue Devils have finished in the Top Ten every season since 1998. During that time, they have been No. 1 for 41 weeks. Next is UConn with 18. Want more?
Krzyzewski has a winning record against every ACC opponent. By winning 14 of the past 16 against Carolina, he now leads the Tar Heels 29-28. The next most successful league team, Wake Forest, trails Coach K 31-20.
Duke has been ranked in the past 153 polls. It finished first four straight times (1999-2002).
As the coach of a No. 1 team, Krzyzewski is 144-19. He trails only Wooden, whose Bruins had a dynasty in the 1960s until the mid '70s, when he retired.
Among active coaches, Krzyzewski leads with 18 first-round draft picks. Tied for second with 10 are Olson and Roy Williams.

Once criticized because his college stars did not strike it big in the NBA, Krzyzewski can now be pleased that superstar Grant Hill finally has recovered after four years with an extraordinary ankle injury and is well on the road back at Orlando.

What's more, Brand and Maggette are 20-point guys with the Clippers and Boozer is a sensation at Utah after establishing his reputation in two years at Cleveland. He was clearly underrated when he was drafted in the second round and became a double-double machine for the Cavaliers. Dunleavy starts for Golden State, Battier does the same at Memphis where he's been rewarded with a huge contract, and Deng may well become the rookie of the year in Chicago.

Christian Laettner, the all-time NCAA Tournament scoring leader as a collegian, had 23 points the other night at Miami, where his experience is bound to help the team led by Shaquille O'Neal.

Williams, who won player of the year honors in 2001 and again in '02, is trying to rehabilitate himself after a terrifying motorcycle accident that followed his rookie season in Chicago. Even without Williams, who has moved to Durham to work on his comeback, this season almost certainly will be the finest ever for Duke players in the pros.

Still more draft numbers: Since '99, Duke has had seven lottery picks. Next is Connecticut with four. Since '98, the Blue Devils have had 10 players chosen in the first round. That's double the number of players selected from each of the runnersup, Arizona, Kansas and Stanford. And other milestones in reach: Krzyzewski is 64-17 in the NCAAs, the best percentage in the nation. That's one victory behind Smith, the all-time leader. K's 10 Final Fours trail only Wooden (12) and Smith (11). Anybody want to bet Duke doesn't make the Final Four at least twice more with Krzyzewski on the bench?

There have been nine consensus All-Americas, with Williams and present associate head coach Johnny Dawkins making it twice each. Five national players of the year have performed for Krzyzewski -- Dawkins, Danny Ferry, Laettner, Battier and Williams (again, twice).

Battier heads a list of five national defensive players. He got the award, presented for the first time in 1987 (to Tommy Amaker), three times.

And when Krzyzewski goes for No. 700 against Toledo's Rockets, it will be before the 211th consecutive sellout in Cameron. There hasn't been a ticket available at the box office since Nov. 16, 1990, against Boston College.

I don't know what happened then. That Duke team only went to the Final Four, the fourth consecutive time in a string that grew to five the next season. And, yes, it won Krzyzewski's first (of three, only Wooden and Rupp have more) NCAA championship.

You can debate all you wish about Hall of Famer Krzyzewski's status on the all-time coaching list. What is indisputable, however, is that for 20 seasons in a completely different college basketball world with 64/65 team tournaments and national seeding, Duke has been No. 1.

I saw that expression on his face against Michigan State, and the look of pleasure and satisfaction as he waved at the students while leaving Coach K Court. It said to me that the best coach in the nation -- in all sports, any level, one magazine once insisted -- has a long way yet to go. What has been achieved thus far is legendary. And there are more things to be accomplished. There are problems within the sport that may not be overcome, but regardless, I'm convinced Mike Krzyzewski will find a way to succeed, not survive.