Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, a long-time friend and colleague of Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, released a statement regarding Coach K's retirement following the 2021-22 season.
"Mike’s impact on basketball goes so far beyond the wins his teams have accumulated," Boeheim said via Syracuse Athletics. "He has been a unifying leader for the sport at every level, including college, professional and international. It’s impossible to overstate the positive impact he has had for decades.
"He did a remarkable job building successful programs at Army and Duke. It is extremely difficult to create that level of achievement and then sustain it for the long period of time the way Mike managed to produce it.
"Mike joined with Jerry Colangelo to generate the same type of maintainable organization with USA Basketball. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity he gave me to sit alongside him during that amazing run that lead to three gold medals for our country.
"I’ve enjoyed the challenge of coaching Syracuse against his Duke teams over the years – no coach prepares his players for big games better than Mike. I’ll look forward to a few more opportunities to do that next season."
Krzyzewski is NCAA men’s basketball’s all-time leader in wins with 1,170. He has 97 NCAA Tournament wins, 12 Final Fours and five National Championships. Coach K also has won 12 ACC Championships. He took over the Duke program in 1980 after six years as the Army head coach and two years as an assistant with Indiana. Krzyzewski was a three time Naismith College Coach of the Year, one time NABC Coach of the Year, one time Clair Bee Coach of the Year, one time UPI Coach of the Year and five time ACC Coach of the Year. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001 and College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
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