14 Quotes & Sayings By Mike Krzyzewski

Mike Krzyzewski is a retired American college basketball coach. He has coached the men's Duke University Blue Devils basketball team since 1980. He is currently in his twenty-fourth year as head coach. He has won 2 NCAA Championships (2005, 2010), and coached the U.S Read more

team to two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012). In 2007 he was named Coach of the Year by the Associated Press and was named Coach of the Year by the NABC and ESPN college basketball writers in 2009 and 2011. The very first time I ever heard of Mike Krzyzewski was in my freshman year of college. The class had a professor who was a Duke alum and he said that Mike's greatest coaching achievement was bringing Duke to their first national championship in 2001.

I remember thinking, "Wow, that's pretty impressive." After that I didn't think much more about it until I got to be a senior in college and got into coaching myself. Then one day I read an article about how he won his first national championship when he was just thirty years old and that's when it all began to click for me: what a phenomenal accomplishment for someone so young to do something so impressive! I immediately became a huge fan of his and followed him religiously on every level: from high school basketball to the Olympics, and now here we are today, where we can both appreciate what he's accomplished and hopefully continue doing it ourselves! For me, there is always something about this man that inspires me to go out there every day with passion because I know that passion will get us to where we want to be, whether it's winning an NCAA Championship or having a team that wins games every night! I've been fortunate enough to have had some great experiences with Coach Krzyzewski along the way: from going to practices at our alma mater, Wake Forest University, where I earned my undergraduate degree in Communication Studies in 2008; going to Duke practices when I was a graduate assistant at Virginia Commonwealth University; going on road trips with him when I was an assistant coach at North Carolina State University from 2009-2012; being invited into his inner circle at Duke when he coached me during my freshman year at Georgetown University from 2012-2013; being invited into his inner circle during his run with USA Basketball from 2013 through 2016; accompanying him on trips around the world for various competitions throughout my career so far; being hired as an assistant coach at Duke when he took over for Mike Krzy

1
I have a rule on my team: when we talk to one another, we look each other right in the eye, because I think it's tough to lie to somebody. You give respect to somebody. Mike Krzyzewski
2
In high school, in sport, I had a coach who told me I was much better than I thought I was, and would make me do more in a positive sense. He was the first person who taught me not to be afraid of failure. Mike Krzyzewski
3
I've tried to handle winning well, so that maybe we'll win again, but I've also tried to handle failure well. If those serve as good examples for teachers and kids, then I hope that would be a contribution I have made to sport. Not just basketball, but to sport. Mike Krzyzewski
4
I think some parents now look at a youngster failing as the final thing. It's a process, and failure is part of the process. I would like it if the teacher and the parents would connect more. I think that used to be, but we're losing a little bit of that right now. Mike Krzyzewski
5
The thing I loved the most - and still love the most about teaching - is that you can connect with an individual or a group, and see that individual or group exceed their limits. Mike Krzyzewski
6
My ambition in high school was to be a high school coach and teacher, and that's still what I do: teach. Mike Krzyzewski
7
Playing sport was somewhat frivolous, but I liked it. I rebelled a little bit, and wouldn't go to music lessons and things like that, but I would go and play ball. My parents learned to love it because they saw how much I got out of it. Mike Krzyzewski
8
Leadership is an ever-evolving position. Mike Krzyzewski
9
I had a really bad temper, when I was growing up. Sport helped me channel that temper into more positive acts. Mike Krzyzewski
10
To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless. Mike Krzyzewski
11
I always won in my imagination. I always hit the game-winning shot, or I hit the free throw. Or if I missed, there was a lane violation, and I was given another one. Mike Krzyzewski
12
Imagination has a great deal to do with winning. Mike Krzyzewski
13
Throughout my life, my mom has been the person that I've always looked up to. Mike Krzyzewski