This year marks Coach K’s last on the Duke bench. He’s walking away after the season, heading into a retirement that his family undoubtedly thinks is long overdue. It’s interesting to think about what a guy with this kind of competitive fire will do without that outlet; who can say what he’ll do next? After West Point, he was eventually sent to South Korea as an artillery liaison officer in the Second Infantry Division and commander of the recreational compound.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI (of 168) | A-Z Quotes TOP 25 QUOTES BY MIKE KRZYZEWSKI (of 168) | A-Z Quotes

The author writes about Krzyzewski’s temper and profanity, and that in defeat he was at times unpleasant to be around. He states that Krzyzewski at times had trouble saying he was sorry. A look into Krzyzewski's turbulent relationship with former Army and Indiana coach Bob Knight, who was a mentor to Coach K. It details how the relationship finally ended at a 2015 West Point reunion in Pinehurst, North Carolina. This is a look at many pivotal moments. From the start of his own basketball career, to his time at Army, and his rough start at Duke, this is a fantastic read. Many important games are discussed, many former players and coachs are talked about, as well as the way Coach K had to adapt through the years.O’Connor dives deep, digging through extant sources as well as conducting his own interviews with scores upon scores of people with close connections to Coach K. The result is a fascinating portrait of sporting greatness, a long look at a man who ascended to the heights of his profession. A man who, for all his flaws, would prove to be a beloved figure in the history of his sport. Hero to some and arch-nemesis to others, all can agree that Krzyzewski was great. And according to this book, he has mastered everything he tried. Except swimming. (Read it and see.)

Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski|Paperback

I gained a lot of respect for Coach after reading another book and this one based on his relationship Jim Valvano and Dean Smith even though when they coached against each other during their time in the ACC and really was moving reading about how he was with Jimmy V right up to the end of his life. In other words, it did what a biography should do. It painted an accurate and exhaustive portrait of the man. O'Connor's assessment of Coach K's coaching ability is somewhat blinkered. Time and again, he says that Coach K is not considered a strategic genius, the type of person who can draw up a play when the team needs a last second basket. Yet, he provides at least two examples, where Coach K-designed plays provided the winning shot that sent Duke into the Final Four. (As an aside, who are these coaching savants who can come up with last second sure-fire scoring? O'Connor never says.) Both Scheyer and Amaker played for Krzyzewski -- Amaker from 1982 to '87 and Scheyer from 2006 to '2010. Amaker was an assistant coach at Duke for nine seasons, but left for a head-coaching job at Seton Hall in 1997 at age 31. He went on to coach at Michigan and has been the head coach at Harvard since 2007. Scheyer has been an assistant coach at Duke since 2013 and was promoted to associate head coach after the 2018 season. Coach K book Courtesy of Mariner Books Ian O'Connor's Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski is a fabulous look into the leader of Duke basketball.

Editor's Pick

About 80 percent of the proceeds will go toward supporting The Chronicle, which is now in its 117th year of publication and 27th year of financial independence. We wanted to showcase our student work chronicling one of the the most historic college basketball programs and demonstrate the unparalleled depth and breadth with which we’ve covered the coach who has won more than any other from NCAA Division I to the Olympics and World Cups,” Beau Dure, the book’s editor and member of Duke Student Publishing Co., The Chronicle’s board of directors, said. Krzyzewski's relationship with former assistant and current Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder, including one Duke player who's quoted in the book as saying: "I saw tension between them. I think I saw jealousy from K to Quin. K snapped at Quin more than any coach or any player combined, and when he did it, it felt personal." I thought the book did a good job balancing K's strengths and flaws. It neither felt like a hatchet job nor a PR piece. You get to see how loyal and thoughtful K could be, reaching out to people he barely knows in their time of greatest need. You also got to see how his competitive fire could make him petty and temperamental. I'll definitely seek out the updated chapter on Duke's 2021-22 basketball season once it's published.