Duke’s Coach K breaks Knight’s win record

The pupil has overtaken The General.

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski surpassed his mentor and former IU Coach Bob Knight with his 903rd career win Tuesday night, becoming the all-time winningest coach in Division I men’s college basketball.

“I just told Coach I love him,” Krzyzewski said in a postgame interview. “I wouldn’t be in this position without him. It’s a moment shared. I know he’s very proud and I’m very proud to have been somebody who’s worked under him and studied him and tried to be
like him.”

Krzyzewski coached on Knight’s staff at IU in 1974-75 and left to take the head coaching job at his alma-mater, Army. The two have remained confidants since, as witnessed Tuesday night.

Knight, who was at Madison Square Garden for No. 6 Duke’s 74-69 win against Michigan State, served as a color commentator for ESPN. Following the final buzzer, Knight took off his headset to embrace his former assistant.

“There is no one I respect more for the way he went about coaching and following the rules than Mike,” Knight said in an official release. “The history of college basketball has had no better coach than Mike Krzyzewski.”

As far as the reaction from those close to Knight, perhaps none publicly commented on Krzyzewski’s record quite like Dan Dakich, a former Knight player and fellow ESPN color commentator.

“Bob Knight won games with guys like me,” Dakich said jokingly of his former coach.
Knight’s 902nd win came in the 2007-08 season at Texas Tech. Knight then retired on Feb. 4, 2008, and handed the job to his son, Pat Knight.

Knight’s 902nd win came when he was 67 years old, while the younger Krzyzewski set the new mark at age 64. But former Krzyzewski player and current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said his former coach isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“Coach K ain’t quitting until his hair changes color,” Bilas said.

Knight is no longer officially associated with the most prestigious coaching record in college basketball.

But for Krzyzewski, the record is one he will always share with

The General.

“The basketball gods are good,” Krzyewski said in a postgame interview. “They put two guys who’ve done a lot in the game together, special moments, and tonight is another one of those special moments.”