For the Cameron Crazies, it was a milestone.  For Duke Blue Devils basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, it was just another game.  Granted, he enjoyed and acknowledged gratefully the attention he received for winning his 880th career game as a head coach and passing hated rival North Carolina’s former head coach Dean Smith, but Coach K doesn’t have time to rest on his laurels.  He’s got more games to win.  Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski is now second all-time in NCAA men’s basketball coaching victories; former Indiana and Texas Tech head coach Bobby Knight is first with 904 Division I wins.

“I don’t want to make it sound less than what it is, but number of wins, you have to be healthy, you have to have really good players, you have to have commitment from your school,” demurred Coach K.  “So, I don’t know if that’s as much an achievement as much as the result of having all those things.  And so I’m not going to look at this as an achievement.  When you win a championship … those are achievements.  The number of wins, you have to win a certain number of games — especially the last one — to get an achievement.”  Added Duke’s head coach, “The thing about being a coach is being committed to the team you have.  We never talked about winning a fourth national championship, we talked about Jon Scheyer and Zoubek and Lance winning their first, and we needed to be in their moment.  Tonight [the Duke team] were kind of in my moment.  I don’t want them to be in my moment, I wanted them to get into their moment and get ready for Miami.”

Not bad for a guy who had to spell his last name for reporters when he was hired for the job in 1980 (a year before I was born).  Along the way, he has managed to transform Duke into a basketball powerhouse, a tiny arena full of sweating people into a sensation, and a regional rivalry into national news.  Oh yeah, he’s also gone to 11 Final Fours and won 4 national championships, an Olympic gold medal, and a world championship.

Still, Coach K has a mountain to climb if he wants to become NCAA D1’s all-time winningest basketball coach.  The current top dog is currently Tennessee Lady Volunteers coach Pat Summitt, who has won 1035 regular season games (and counting) in her career.  At least the top men’s ranking is doable.

Tags: Duke, Mike Krzyzewski, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, Krzyzewski passes Dean Smith on NCAA Men’s win list, Mike Krzyzewski wins his 880th game, 880 wins, Coach K, college basketball, college basketball’s all-time wins leader, Mike Krzyzewski second behind Bobby Knight on wins list, men’s college basketball

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