Sources: Coach K plans to retire after season
Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has led Duke to five national titles in his 41 seasons with the Blue…
Duke‘s Mike Krzyzewski, who is the winningest coach in Division I men’s basketball history and has led the Blue Devils to five national championships in his 41 seasons, plans to retire after the 2021-22 season, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday.
Associate head coach Jon Scheyer has agreed to become the next head coach at Duke, sources told ESPN. He will spend the 2021-22 season as coach-in-waiting and will take over after that.
Duke talked to outside candidates about replacing 74-year-old Krzyzewski, including Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, sources told ESPN. Scheyer, however, was the lead recruiter on such stars as Jayson Tatum and Zion Williamson and is Duke’s choice to replace Coach K, sources said.
Stadium first reported that Krzyzewski is planning to retire after next season.
Krzyzewski, a Naismith Hall of Fame coach who has 1,097 career wins at Duke, has taken the Blue Devils to the Final Four on 12 occasions. He has won 12 regular-season ACC championships and 15 conference tournament titles while producing 28 NBA lottery picks — and 41 first-round selections — over the years.
Having five national titles puts him second only to former UCLA coach John Wooden, who won 10.
“Mike’s been fantastic for the game of basketball,” retired North Carolina coach Roy Williams told reporters Wednesday after the Pro-Am for the Korn Ferry Tour stop in Raleigh, North Carolina. “… He’s been a good friend. He’s been a guy I’ve respected a great deal. He made everybody bring their A-game for years and years and years. … He’s just been phenomenal in everything he’s done.”
Hired at Duke in May 1980, “Coach K” won national championships in 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 and 2015, while setting the men’s career coaching victories record in November 2011.
He has tailored his approach to adapt with the times and his personnel. He won the 2010 title with a senior-laden roster, then claimed the 2015 one after pivoting to more “one-and-done” talent that headed to the NBA after a lone college season playing in Duke’s famously hostile Cameron Indoor Stadium.
His tally of 97 NCAA tournament wins ranks No. 1 among all coaches, as does his 126 weeks atop the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Overall, including his five seasons as head coach at Army at the beginning of his career, Krzyzewski has a 1,170-361 record.
Along the way, he also took over the U.S. men’s national team — with NBA All-Star rosters featuring names such as the late Kobe Bryant and LeBron James — and led it to Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008, London in 2012 and Rio de Janiero in 2016.
Duke missed the NCAA tournament this past season for the first time since 1995, but the Blue Devils welcome one of the nation’s top recruiting classes for the coming season.
Scheyer played for Krzyzewski from 2006-10, with his last season resulting in his mentor’s fourth NCAA title. Scheyer joined the Duke staff for the 2013-14 season and rose to his current role after the 2017-18 season.
He served as interim coach last year for Duke when Krzyzewski was sidelined for a January win against Boston College due to COVID-19 protocols. Scheyer has never been a college head coach.
The news about Krzyzewski comes almost two months to the day that Williams, another Hall of Famer in the state, announced his retirement after 33 seasons with Kansas and the Tar Heels.
“The only thing wrong with Mike Krzyzewski is that he doesn’t play golf,” Williams told reporters Wednesday. “Michael doesn’t need Roy Williams giving him advice. He’s a great family man. He’s going to enjoy his family a great deal. He’ll still be important in college athletics. He’ll still be important to college basketball.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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