Coach K, Ian OConnor
Coach K, Ian OConnor
8 Rating(s)
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
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Coach K
The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski

Author: Ian O'Connor

Narrator: Kiff VandenHeuvel

Unabridged: 16 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 02/22/2022


Synopsis

The definitive biography of college basketball’s all-time winningest coach, Mike KrzyzewskiMike Krzyzewski, known worldwide as “Coach K,” is a five-time national champion at Duke, the NCAA's all-time leader in victories with nearly 1,200, and the first man to lead Team USA to three Olympic basketball gold medals. Through unprecedented access to Krzyzewski’s best friends, closest advisers, fiercest adversaries, and generations of his players and assistants, three-time New York Times bestselling author Ian O’Connor takes you behind the Blue Devil curtain with a penetrating examination of the great, but flawed leader as he closes out his iconic career.Krzyzewski built a staggering basketball empire that has endured for more than four decades, placing him among the all-time titans of American sport, and yet there has never been a defining portrait of the coach and his program. Until now. O’Connor uses scores of interviews with those who know Krzyzewski best to deliver previously untold stories about the relationships that define the venerable Coach K, including the one with his volcanic mentor, Bob Knight, that died a premature death. Krzyzewski was always driven by an inner rage fueled by his tough Chicago upbringing, and by the blue-collar Polish-American parents who raised him to fight for a better life. As the retiring Coach K makes his final stand, vying for one more ring during the 2021-2022 season before saying goodbye at age 75, O’Connor shows you sides of the man and his methods that will surprise even the most dedicated Duke fan.    

About Ian O'Connor

Ian O’Connor is the author of five previous books, including four straight New York Times bestsellers—Coach K, Belichick, The Captain, and Arnie & Jack. He has finished in first place twenty times in national writing contests, including those conducted by the Pro Football Writers of America, Golf Writers Association of America, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Associated Press Sports Editors, who named him the No. 1 columnist in the country in his circulation category three times. O’Connor has been a columnist at ESPN, The New York Post, USA Today, and The New York Daily News.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Meike on May 02, 2023

Listen, Coach K is a legend and a fascinating guy (I met him when I was a fellow at Duke, where he is basically God, and I was impressed and intrigued), but a biography that mainly hypes him up does not do justice to this complex character. O'Connor has collected tons of info on the man, but it buil......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on February 26, 2025

Ian O’Connor’s Coach K is an incredibly detailed and well-structured biography that offers a comprehensive look at the life and career of Mike Krzyzewski, from his humble beginnings as the son of Polish immigrants in Chicago to his rise as one of the most influential figures in basketball history. T......more

Goodreads review by Eliot on January 18, 2023

I really like this book. I knew K was arguably the greatest college coach of all time, but man did Oconnor really bring out his genius. K wasn’t the best because he knew basketball better than others, he was the best because he knew human nature better than others. If you admire leadership and are t......more

Goodreads review by Marissa on October 12, 2023

A perhaps overly detailed read on Coach Ks life and career from a small Polish neighborhood in Chicago to West Point to Duke. Loved reading some of the legendary game play by plays and learning more about the way the builds and maintains relationships with everyone he’s coached. Basketball is the ul......more

Goodreads review by David on April 05, 2022

Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski by Ian O’Connor (Mariner Books 2022)(Biography) (3632). This book is a well-deserved and timely tribute to Coach Mike Krzyzewski. For those sports fans who are counting, I finished reading this the night after Coach K’s 2022 Duke team lost in the Final......more