If you are a sports fan like me, this is the time of year when your eyes grow a bit blurry from watching countless hours of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. So in keeping with the season, we’re shining a spotlight on Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, or “Coach K,” an individual that personifies the word “Classy.”
I may be getting myself in a bit of trouble here since my daughter Dana is a Villanova alumni and they have a truly classy coach, Jay Wright. But since this is Coach K’s last season and I get to write these notes, Coach K gets our vote for this week’s Word of Encouragement.
He is retiring after this season, so during his farewell tour, there have been plenty of justifiable accolades. After all he is the coach with the most wins in Division 1 collegiate basketball history.
The legendary figure of “Coach K” may seem larger than life to most, but through his 42 years in Durham, fans have also come to know him in a different way through interactions and impressions both small and large. To celebrate his last season and gain an understanding about just how many people he’s touched during his tenure at Duke, the Duke Chronicles asked fans for stories about Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils.
These stories were compiled in a Coach K Commemorative Edition and highlighted his humility, humanness and grace in his relationships with others. Interestingly, these are the same attributes I have witnessed when I have heard Coach K speak on numerous occasions. Even with all of his success, he has never forgotten his roots in growing up in Chicago and attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. It is stunning to think that Coach K’s actions off the court have arguably been more impactful than his success on the court. And as the winningest Coach in Division 1 college basketball history, that is saying something.
Maybe that is why I was interested in a recent post in LinkedIn from Adrian, the mother of Amos, a special needs child. Adrian shared her story about how Coach K’s relationship with Steve Mitchell had inspired her and other parents of special needs children.
Steve Mitchell was born with Down Syndrome. In 1980, when his brother learned that the only thing Steve wanted for Christmas was a ticket to Duke basketball games, fate intervened. His brother owned a construction company and was hired to renovate Coach K’s house. So when the opportunity arose, he asked Coach K how he could buy a ticket for his brother.
Coach K responded: “He can sit behind me.” And that is where Steve sat for the next 37 years until he passed away. Adrian asked in her letter to Coach K: “Did you know how life changing that gift would be?” Before every Duke home game Coach K would make it a point to shake Steve’s hand, let him know he was glad to see him and when asked, would refer to him as “a good friend who had some challenges.”
At the beginning of each season, Steve would write Coach K a note and say that Duke was going to have a great season and state “I was hoping that I could sit near you again.” Coach K would have a ticket waiting for him at will call and then his favorite usher Fran would escort him to his seat.
As Adrian said in her note: “You said yes to a family that may have heard no far more often.” Steve’s family talked about how this simple act of kindness changed Steve’s life and gave him self confidence.
Coach K is regarded as a fierce competitor and has won numerous National Championships and Gold Medals as the coach of the USA Men’s Basketball team. But as I reflected on Coach K’s time with Steve and his comments during the talks I have heard, I was reminded of some verses from one of my favorite poems, “If” by Rudyard Kipling:
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch…
If all men count with you, but none too much ….
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
His actions reflect the words from Romans to “not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking.”
