Long-time Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski retired at the end of the 2021-22 NCAA basketball season. Krzyzewski patrolled the sidelines for nearly a half-century before calling it quits.
During his nearly 50 years as a basketball coach with Army West Point and later Duke, Krzyzewski won five NCAA National Championships and made the Blue Devils a household name. He also won the Naismith Coach of the Year award on three occasions and totalled 1,202 Division I victories.
March Madness is just around the corner and 68 teams will battle for the NCAA National Championship. College basketball fans can read the latest the bet99 Canada website review before signing up with its bonus code to the sportsbook for March Madness.
Many NCAA basketball fans consider Krzyzewski the greatest of all time. His regular season record at Duke saw him post win after win while developing some of the greatest NCAA college basketball players of all time. Some of the players who played under Krzyzewski were Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, Shane Battier, Bobby Hurley, and more recently, Zion Williamson.
Krzyzewski sits atop the current NCAA basketball coaches all-time wins leaderboard. There is one possible coach that could catch Krzyzewski's 1,202 wins. Syracuse Orange head coach Jim Boeheim has put together a similarly long career. Boeheim, like Krzyzewski, has spent nearly a half-century coaching college basketball.
For the last 47 years, Boeheim has led the Syracuse Orange, averaging 22 wins per season. Boeheim has currently won over 1,010 basketball games. Unfortunately for the 78-year-old Boeheim, he may need a few more years to catch Krzyzewski’s record.
Boeheim would be much closer to Krzyzewski had the NCAA not taken away 108 wins as Syracuse coach due to violations committed by the basketball program. Boeheim would have won over 1,118 games as a college coach. Boeheim would be fewer than 100 games off Krzyzewski’s record.
In terms of March Madness, Krzyzewski is the all-time winningest college basketball coach. His 101 wins add to the overall total, making Krzyzewski the leader on both fronts. Krzyzewski leads the March Madness wins chart by 24 victories over former Kansas Jayhawks and North Carolina Tar Heels coach Roy Williams.
Boeheim could catch Krzyzewski in NCAA tournament wins but will need multiple seasons to achieve the feat. The long-serving Syracuse coach needs 41 NCAA tournament victories to overtake Krzyzewski’s total. Unfortunately, Boeheim would need to win six NCAA tournaments and reach the Final Four in a seventh tournament to match Krzyzewski’s wins.
Boeheim has won 61 NCAA tournament games. He reached the Final Four on five occasions, winning the National title just once. Krzyzewski made it to 13 Final Fours and claimed five titles. Only John Wooden of UCLA won more National Championships, with 10 than Krzyzewski did. However, Wooden coached in a very different era. Krzyzewski experienced a much large NCAA tournament with 64 teams for much of his career with Duke.
Kansas Jayhawks coach Bill Self may have the best chance of catching Krzyzewski. Self has won 55 NCAA tournament games and reached four final fours and won two national titles. Self is just 60 years old.
