Sports world offers congratulations, appreciation for Mike Krzyzewski

Mike Krzyzewski still has one more season left to coach basketball at Duke, but the tributes are already starting to roll in from the players whose lives he's touched throughout his career.

After starting his coaching career as an assistant under Bob Knight at Indiana, Krzyzewski took over as the head coach at Army for five seasons before moving to Durham and building a dynasty in 1980.

"Coach K's level of excellence over 40-plus years as a head coach at Duke, we've never seen anything like it in the history of American sport," said Duke alum and current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas. "I think it's the most impactful coaching career we've ever seen."

With five national titles, 12 Final Four appearances, 15 ACC tournament championships and a record 1,170 career wins, Krzyzewski revealed Wednesday he will be retiring after the 2021-22 season.

Duke has already named associate head coach Jon Scheyer, a member of Krzyzewski's 2010 NCAA title-winning team, to be Coach K's successor.

"Always The Teacher... Always The Leader... Always The Mentor... Always Our Coach," said Duke alum Carlos Boozer, a three-year starter and member of the Blue Devils' 2001 national championship squad.

Jay Williams, who played at Duke from 1999-2002 and won a national championship with the Blue Devils in 2001, wrote on Twitter: "I can’t even find the words to describe how I feel about all of this right now. It’s a lot to take in for a man that changed my life in so many ways."

Tommy Amaker, who played at Duke from 1982-87 and is currently the men's basketball coach at Harvard, released a statement Wednesday night.

"There are few people who gave the footprint that Coach leaves behind not only in the game of basketball, but also in the world of sports," Amaker wrote. "I'm eternally grateful to him for his wisdom and relationship."

Even stars in other sports with ties to Krzyzewski have offered their congratulations. New York Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman, who played baseball at Duke, called Coach K's career "legendary" and thanked him for "some powerful talks" the two had over the years.

Bilas might have summed up Krzyzewski's impact best when he said, "This is going to be the toughest act to follow in the history of sports."