Tonight college basketball kicks off. Teams begin the long road that will end in a national championship for only one. And for one coach it will be his 42nd trip down this familiar road. But one thing will not be familiar. There will be no return trip. This will be the last time Coach Mike Krzyzewski will travel down this road with his team, whether it ends in a national championship or not.
In June, Coach K announced that he would retire at the end of this season no matter what the outcome was. He will retire as the all time winningest coach in college basketball history. He is a 5 time national champion, has coached 5 gold medal winning Olympic teams, ACC regular season champion 12 times, 15 time ACC tournament champion, and was the ACC Coach of the Year 5 times. These are just a few of many accomplishments that make calling Coach K “the goat” or the greatest of all time very easy. He has 1,170 wins and he has one more season to add to it.
Most people are calling it a farewell tour and I suppose it is. Some people think he’s dragging it out because he wants the attention. He is one of the best coaches that will ever coach the game so attention is not something Coach K has ever lacked. He goes into this season not talking about how it’s his last but instead about how it’s his teams first. He is not focused on the last time he will open the season at the Champions Classic or the last time he will play against UNC or the last time he will play in March Madness. He is focused on his team doing it together for the first time.
Throughout the season, everyone will talk about all of his lasts. They will talk about his past and all he has done. As well they should. He took college basketball and Duke to new heights. He adapted his coaching and changed alongside the kids he coached. He never stopped learning, changing, and growing. That’s why he kept winning.
And if this is his farewell tour then he deserves the very best one we can give him. Because as much as college basketball gave him, he gave college basketball and the people who love it so much more. He has been and will always be the ”GOAT” and we should all count ourselves lucky that we got to watch him do what he does best.
So as this season tips off tonight and Duke begins their road to a hopeful number six, begin saying your thankful farewell to the very best this game has to offer. College basketball will miss you. Enjoy every moment of this final season with the coach who no one saw coming. Some used to think the hardest thing would be learning how to spell and pronounce the name Krzyzewski, turns out the hardest thing is actually going to be saying goodbye.
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