PITTSBURGH _ Mike Krzyzewski and Pat Summitt appeared together on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2011, when they were named co-sportspersons of the year. Saturday, almost seven years later, the men's all-time leader in college basketball wins finally passed the women's all-time leader in college basketball wins.
The Duke coach won his 1,099th game Saturday when the Blue Devils beat Rhode Island, 87-62, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, finally passing the late Tennessee coach, who died in 2016.
"It means I've been at a good place," said Krzyzewski, who started his coaching career at Army before moving to Duke in 1980. "I've had great players and have had good health for the most part. I've got so many new body parts right now. Two knees, two hips. ... It's an honor because she was a pioneer in her sport. Her sport, women's college basketball, took off because of her."
There are still a few coaches out there who could potentially catch Krzyzewski. On the men's side, there's Herb Magee, the longtime coach at Division II Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, formerly Philadelphia University and Philadelphia Textile before that. Magee, still active at age 76, has 1,074 wins.
Connecticut women's coach Geno Auriemma, 63, has 1,024, and they add up quickly when his team wins 30-plus games a season, every season.
"Pat would have won hundreds of more games if health had not taken her from us," Krzyzewski said. "And so someone will have more eventually."
