Krzyzewski Garners NABC Honor

54KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Duke University and former United States National Team head coach Mike Krzyzewski will receive the seventh Court of Honor Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Foundation at the Court of Honor Gala on June 21, 2017.

The Court of Honor Award is presented to an individual who has roots in college basketball, values those roots and has gone on to distinguish himself in his profession, exhibiting the highest standards of leadership.

The only men’s basketball coach in Olympic history to lead teams to gold medals in three Olympic Games, Coach K began a 38-year tenure as a member of the USA Basketball coaching staff in 1979. He served on 21 USA staffs as a head or assistant coach with an overall record of 139-7 (.952). As a head coach, Krzyzewski’s teams posted a 107-7 record while winning seven gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals.

In 2005, at the request of then-USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo, Coach K agreed to accept the position of United States National Team head coach. During his tenure, the USA men had a record of 60-1 (.984) in official FIBA or FIBA Americas competitions, highlighted by gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2010 FIBA World Championship, 2012 London Olympics, 2014 FIBA World Cup and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

“I have spent a lifetime in basketball and have had many memorable moments but nothing compares with the relationship forged over a decade with Mike and winning gold medals,” Colangelo said. “He is a Hall of Famer in every sense and a brother to me as we joined forces to create a new culture for USA Basketball.”

Krzyzewski, a 2001 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, concluded his National Team coaching career on a 76-game winning streak.

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, Krzyzewski was named head coach at West Point in 1975 and after five seasons, left to carry on his career at Duke University. In 41-plus seasons as a college head coach, he has posted a 1,061-326 record – the most wins by a head coach in NCAA men’s basketball history.

Duke has captured five national championships (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 and 2015) under Coach K with 12 Final Four appearances, tied with John Wooden for the most all-time. The Blue Devils’ 90 NCAA Tournament wins under Krzyzewski are the most in NCAA history.

Previous winners of the Court of Honor Award include Colangelo (2009), Bill Bradley (2010), Phil Knight (2011), Jim Nantz (2013), Dick Vitale (2014), John Thompson, Jr. (2015) and George Raveling (2016).

The gala will be held at Cipriani, located at 110 E 42nd Street between Lexington and Park, in New York City. Additional information, including how to purchase tickets, is available at courtofhonorgala.com.