Mike Krzyzewski, head basketball coach at Duke, signing copies of “The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team”

* 4/13/09 12:30 PM at Borders Books at State Street. Chicago, IL.
* 4/13/09 7:30 PM at Barnes & Noble at Old Orchard Street. Skokie, IL.
* 4/16/09 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble at The Streets of Southpointe. Durham, NC.
* 4/17/09 2:00 PM at the Gothic Book Store – Duke University. Durham, NC.
* 4/18/09 10:00 Am at the Emily Krzyzewski Center – W. Chapel Hill Street. Durham, NC.
* 4/20/09 12:30 PM at Barnes & Noble at Fifth Avenue. New York, NY.
* 4/21/09 Noon at The NBA Store – 5th Avenue. New York, NY.

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Michael William “Mike” Krzyzewski (Polish: Krzy?ewski; in American English pronounced “Sh?-zhef-skee”) (born February 13, 1947) is an American basketball coach. Currently the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball team, he also coached the United States men’s national basketball team at the 2006 world championship and the 2008 Summer Olympics, culminating with the gold medal at the Olympics.

Nicknamed “Coach K,” Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to 3 NCAA Championships, 10 Final Fours (third most in history), and 11 ACC Championships over 28 seasons at Duke. Krzyzewski has amassed an NCAA-record 71 NCAA tournament victories, while averaging more than 25 wins per season. He has also coached an NCAA-record eleven 30-win seasons in his tenure. 61 of the 65 four-year players under his tutelage since 1986 have competed in at least one Final Four.[citation needed] On March 1, 2008, Krzyzewski became the sixth men’s basketball coach in NCAA history to reach the 800-win plateau. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame following the 2001 season.

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Early Years
Krzyzewski, the son of Polish immigrants, has roots from Western Pennsylvania, as his grandparents on his mother’s side emigrated from Poland to Keisterville, Pennsylvania. Up until he was 10 or 12, he used to go there every summer. Krzyzewski suspects the purpose of such trips was to “teach you to know where you came from and to be proud of it.”

Krzyzewski attended Weber High School in Chicago, Illinois. He then attended The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and played basketball under Bob Knight while training to become an officer in the Army. He was captain of the Army basketball team in his senior season, 1968-69, leading his team to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. From 1969–74, Krzyzewski served in the Army and directed service teams for three years, and then followed that up with two years as head coach of the U.S. Military Academy Prep School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Early Coaching Carreer
In 1974 he resigned from the Army. Bob Knight, his former coach at Army, offered Krzyzewski, then 26 years old, a graduate assistant position at Indiana University. That 1975 squad posted an 18–0 Big Ten mark and a 31–1 overall record.

Krzyzewski spent five years building the program at his alma mater in West Point. He led the Black Knights to one NIT berth, and a five-year record of 73–59 (.553).

Caoching Awards/ Recognition
* 1986, Basketball Times, CBS/Chevrolet, UPI National COY awards
* 1989, Naismith National COY
* 2001, Victor Awards
* 1984, ACC COY
* 1999, ACC COY
* 2000, ACC COY
* 2001, Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame.
* 2001, Time magazine and CNN named Krzyzewski “America’s Best Coach”; the award was not limited to any particular sport.

References: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/8944/

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