Coach K Wins 1,000th Game as a Ranked Blue Devil

The winningest college basketball coach of all time has another milestone under his belt.

Sixth-ranked Duke defeated Virginia Tech Saturday night by a comfortable 88-64 score. Guard Cassius Stanley logged 21 points while fellow freshmen Vernon Carey and Matthew Hurt each chipped in with 16.

The most important number of the night, though, was not posted by any of the players. It was their coach; Mike Krzyzewski won his 1,000th game as coach of a ranked Duke squad.

A Long Time Coming

After three years as a point guard at Army, playing under Bob Knight, and five years as an active-duty officer, Krzyzewski served as a graduate assistant for one year under Knight at Indiana. He then returned to West Point to serve as their head coach for five seasons before he was unanimously selected for the Duke job in 1980 by their selection council.

In a whopping 39 seasons as Blue Devils boss, he has accumulated a 1,154–348 record. “Coach K” won his 1,000th game as coach in 2015. He became the winningest D-I coach of all time in 2018 when he won his 1,099th game and passed the Tennessee legend Pat Summit.

Now, he boasts his 1000th win as a ranked team. Here is Krzyzewski what  had to say about the achievement:

“Consistent Excellence”

Coach K has led Duke to 33 NCAA tournament appearances, a head coaching record, and 12 Final Fours (tied for the record with John Wooden). His five national championships, the last of which he won during the 2014-15 season, is the second-most all-time behind Wooden.

Duke are your 2015 national champions after beating Wisconsin 68-63! pic.twitter.com/Yi3efwo90x

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 7, 2015

It is safe to say Krzyzewski has turned Duke into a powerhouse, but he described it in a different way.

“It’s taken a lot of years and a lot of really good players, but that’s something we’re very proud of,” Krzyzewski said after the Virginia Tech win, “the consistent excellence I guess is what we would call it.”