The Duke Blue Devils won their fifth mens basketball Championship on Monday night. All five of those Championships have come with head coach Mike Krzyzewski at the helm which puts him second all-time with his five NCAA Tournament titles. John Wooden is of course in first place all-time with his ten Championships, but it is clear at this point that Coach K is at the very least on Wooden’s level when it comes to legacy.
Yes Wooden had undefeated seasons and was 10-0 in National Championship games, but he also coached in a much different time. Back when Wooden was coaching there were only 22-25 teams in the tournament, until his final Championship in 1975 when there were 32 teams.
Not to take away from Wooden’s accomplishments, but back then the road to the Final Four and the National Championship was not as rigorous as it is nowadays.
Mike Krzyzewski has won all five of his titles with at least 64 teams in the tournament, which means you have to win six games to be the National Champion. Coach K’s record in Championship games is now 5-4 after Monday night’s win, but because of all of the other factors it is clear that Krzyzewski is on Wooden’s level.
Winning a National Championship nowadays is as hard as it has ever been. There are so many other teams to compete with, and even in the one-and-done era the talent in college basketball as it an all-time high.
This years Championship might be Krzyzewski’s most impressive coaching job yet though. He had to dismiss Rasheed Sulaimon from the team in the middle of the year, which left his team with only eight scholarship players, four of which were freshmen. Even with only eight guys Coach K led this team to a National Championship and only four losses all season.
In the Championship game the freshmen accounted for 60 of the teams 68 points which is a record for most points scored by freshmen in a Championship game. A lot of the credit has to go to Krzyzewski for his leadership and getting these freshmen to grow up so fast.
It can be argued that even before this year Coach K was on Wooden’s level, but like with any argument ever there will be people on both sides. Coach K certainly didn’t hurt his case with the year he has had, becoming the first mens basketball coach to reach 1000 wins, tying John Wooden with his 12th Final Four appearance, and adding a fifth National Championship.
At this point there is one thing that is abundantly clear and that is that Mike Krzyzewski is one of the greatest coaches of all-time and he has been able to adjust to whatever the climate of college basketball has been. He may be on Wooden’s level now but who knows how much more his legacy will grow. At the very least though, Coach K is in the conversation for greatest coach of all-time, and that in and of itself is proof of a tremendous career.