OFFICIAL: Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski to retire after the 2021-22 season

Initially reported by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman and later confirmed by the school, legendary Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski will retire after the upcoming 2021-22 basketball season. Coach K has been at Duke since 1980, winning over 1,000 games and five NCAA National Championships during that tenure. He is the only coach in Division I history to surpass the 1,000-win mark, having surpassed his mentor Bob Knight back in 2015 for the most wins all-time.

Retirement has been on the horizon for Coach K, now 74 years old, for many years and has brought much speculation as to who the Blue Devils’ next head coach will be. Just two months ago, Krzyzewski’s long-time rival Roy Williams announced his retirement from UNC and assistant coach Hubert Davis was chosen to replace him.

It has long been assumed that one of the many former Duke players and assistants who are currently serving as head coaches elsewhere would come back to Durham to take over the mantle. However, it will be associate head coach Jon Scheyer – also first reported by Goodman and later announced by the school – that will take over the helm next April (more on that here). Scheyer was a four-year starter for the Blue Devils and has been on the coaching staff since 2013.

Like Krzyzewski before him, Scheyer is a Chicago (suburbs) native and will take over the job before his 35th birthday.

The college basketball world is already rapidly changing with NIL regulations changing and the transfer market exploding, but Krzyzewski, Williams and Lon Kruger all retiring in a 12-month span certainly shakes things up even further.

credit to Gregory Shamus/GET for the photo