Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski (right) speaks with mentor and former NCAA Division 1 record-holder Bobby Knight after Krzyzewski won his 903rd game to become the coach with the most wins. Duke beat Michigan State 74-69 at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday Nov. 15, 2011 for the record win.
NEW YORK With the mentor watching from press row as the protégé eclipsed his record, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski passed Bobby Knight on Tuesday with his 903rd win.
Krzyzewski, who played for Knight at Army, has amassed more wins than any other men's coach. The record-breaker after 36 years at Duke and Army was a 74-69 win over Michigan State at Madison Square Garden.
Krzyzewski walked across the court to where Knight was working for ESPN, and the two shared a prolonged and tearful embrace.
"I'd like to thank the basketball gods for allowing coach (Knight) to be here for this moment," Krzyzewski said. "To have the two of us together, because you don't know if that would happen. That was really a good thing for the two of us to be together tonight."
After a presentation at midcourt with NCAA President Mark Emmert, it was on to his wife Mickie and brother Bill, sitting behind the Duke bench, and then a huddle with his team, wearing '903' hats, before he was ushered off the court, with more celebration to come later in the night.
With the record secure, even Krzyzewski's biggest rivals had to stop and admire this accomplishment.
"It's mind-boggling. I mean it really is," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "To win 900 games, I guess Coach Knight is the only other person who's ever done it. It's a big time achievement and one I admire him for a great deal."