We are about 5 days from the last time Coach Mike Krzyzewski ever steps on the court. A lot of emotions have been shed out between all of the Basketball players that have played underneath him as well as his assistant coaches. 

Coach K was an inspiration to me. Ever since I can remember, I have loved watching Duke basketball and that was all because of Coach K. He inspired me to be a coach for the youth and ultimately work for AKASPORT. Seeing him leave the game of basketball is hard but all we can do is try to remember the good things about what he has done for me, and also for the game of basketball. 

 Coach K started out as a head coach for Army for 5 years in the late 1970’s before transitioning to Duke Men's Basketball Head Coach in 1980. Since 1980, he has been the man in charge at Duke. Sending a whopping 68 players to the NBA. He has turned the College basketball scene around and has been the most influential person for College Hoops. Let alone as being the winningest coach of all time with 1,202 wins, he has a record 2nd to the great John Wooden, with 5 National Champions as well. He was also the Head Coach for the Olympic USA Men’s National team from 2005-2016, where he won 6 gold medals during then. He coached the likes of Lebron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and the late and great Kobe Bryant, and many other top basketball players from the United States.

Before the 2021-2022 season, Coach K announced this will be the final run of his tenure at Duke University. A lot of athletes around the sport of basketball had mixed emotions, but everyone knew this day was coming. Fast forward to the March Madness Ncaa Basketball Tournament, no one gave the Duke Blue Devils a shot on even making it to the final four. They had a really good region of teams they had to go through. But like every Duke team under Coach K, they made it happen and reached the final 4 where they had to play North Carolina, the biggest rival for Duke. The most anticipated meeting between two teams in College Hoops history. Going into the game, Coach K had a record of 50-49 against North Carolina. Unfortunately, this was his last game as a coach. He walked off the court being 50-50. With tears filled in his eyes, he walked off as a proud coach. He knew all the questions were going to be about him for the after game press conference, but he made sure the guys on the team had all the glory on how far they have gotten. Coach K was truly a special man. He knew he couldn’t have done any of this without his teams buying in and playing hard for him. He was looked on as a father figure for so many of his players throughout the years. 

Coach K was a leader, he was a light for the game of Basketball. There are a lot of people, like me, who have been a big follower of Duke Basketball because of him. He supported a lot of people around him but kept the culture how it was. My favorite coach K’s quote is about culture, where he states: “Don’t take your culture for granted. There needs to be renewal of values that lead to camaraderie”. That ties into what we do at AKA. The culture of AKA has always been the same, a very fun upbeat program where it mentors and teaches kids to be social and active. There is camaraderie between everyone at all of our five locations. We all have the same end goal, we want to put the best camp on for your kids and to hopefully one day have great memories and stories they can grow older and tell to each other. 

Coach Mike Krzyzewski, you will be greatly missed in the sport of Basketball. And all of us here at AKASPORT hope the best is yet to come in your retirement…

The best ,

Drew Metz