Duke Basketball: 5 Reasons Mike Krzyzewski's Wins Record Didn't Get Enough Press

On November 15th of this year, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski tallied his 903rd win as a coach, breaking the NCAA all-time record. 

However, other than a short clip on a highlight reel, this monumental moment in Coach K's life wasn't paid too much attention. 

Why is that?

In his 37 years as a head coach (31 at Duke), Coach K has averaged 25 wins per year with a .761 win percentage. Former record leader Bob Knight held the record of 902 wins after 42 season with a .709 win percentage.

Here is why Coach K's all-time wins record didn't get its deserved press. 

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1. The Child Abuse Scandals

Amid their child abuse scandals, Jerry Sandusky's and Bernie Fine's names have appeared on news tickers constantly with ongoing updates being highlighted in national news. 

These atrocities have taken the spotlight away from not just Coach K's win record, but also from collegiate athletics in general. 

The Sandusky scandal exploded beginning November 5th, with the Fine scandal emerging on November 10th as a result. 

With breaking news flashing updates on both scandals, Coach K breaking the all-time wins record on November 15th was overshadowed. 

It's now December, and these child abuse investigations are still carrying on and will be until the whole situation has been settled. 

The press won't return to an old story like Coach K's win record at a later time, so the story's time has passed. 

2. The NBA Lockout

The NBA offseason usually creates enough hype with the prospect of major trades and free agency, but this year's lockout really captured the focus of media attention whenever major developments were made.

The lockout lasted 161 days with new developments coming every few days. On November 15th, the day that Coach K broke the wins record, the NBA cancelled all games through December 15. To add to that, a group of locked-out players filed class-action lawsuits against the NBA.  

This developing story in combination with the child abuse investigations dominated the media spotlight in the middle of November. 

The lockout didn't end until December 8th and the child abuse scandals are still ongoing, which diverted media attention away from Coach K's impressive feat. 

3. Coach K is a Good Guy

Something that Coach K doesn't have in common with the preceding two media spectacles is the flare of scandal. 

The media focuses their attention more heavily upon scandalous material like the child abuse scandals or something else that will shock and awe. 

Devoid of all personal feelings, the fundamental reason that the media behaves in such a way is because such shock-and-awe stories tend to create more attention (which creates more viewers/ readers, which then produces more money). 

Coach K, as seen in the above photo with Tennessee women's head coach Pat Summit, also received the Sportsman of the Year Award, but that as well did not get very much attention. 

Mike Krzyzewski is a good man. He has always shown character and sportsmanship on the bench. Coach K seems to uphold good values, and is a man of true integrity. 

If it had been the opposite, that Coach K was a volatile man who was consistently subjected to media scrutiny, then this probably would have gotten more coverage, even in the shadow of other ongoing news scandals. 

Imagine the headline: "Fiery Coach K breaks NCAA record" versus "Classy Coach K breaks NCAA record."

Which headline would reel you in?

4. He's Not Old or Retiring

It may come as a surprise to some that Coach K is 64 years of age, as he looks more like he is in his mid-40s. 

He may have been coaching for 37 years, but Coach K has expressed no desire to stop coaching, and he will probably keep coaching until he is well into his 70s. 

The story is less climactic because he isn't retiring and doesn't have a head of grey hair. It's not "Retiring Coach K breaks wins record in his last year." It's just a great coach breaking a record.

Had the story been more sensational, it would have been more widely publicized. 

5. The Record Wasn't Well Known or Anticipated

The fact that Bob Knight was the previous owner of the record with 902 wins wasn't very well known. College records aren't really paid too much attention in general anyways. 

Although the record was made reference to after Coach K had reached 899 wins, it was only briefly mentioned on sports newsreels and didn't really get nationwide exposure. 

This isn't the MLB home run record, which is constantly brought up. Not only is this a college record, but it was also a coach's record, not a player's record, which further downplays its importance. 

There's no doubt that Duke fans knew about this record and were surely anticipating it, but most college basketball fans didn't know too much about the record. 

Congratulations to Coach K

Regardless of the overshadowing news, the anti-climactic nature, or whatever it may have been, let's take a moment to take our hats off to Coach K, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA history. 

Coach K has shown great sportsmanship in his 37 years as a coach and has been an iconic figure of college basketball for quite some time. 

We wish nothing but continued health and happiness for Coach K. 

If he keeps at it for another 10 or more years, Coach K may uphold a record of over 1,200 wins, which would be nearly impossible to surpass. 

What would that headline say?

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