National Hardware Named After Duke Basketball Legend

Perhaps Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer will earn the NABC Mike Krzyzewski Award down the road.

Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski / Mark Hoffman / USA TODAY NETWORK

In 2009, en route to totaling five national titles and the all-time most victories, now-retired Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski took home the previously named NABC Metropolitan Award, presently annually since 1941 to recognize long and outstanding service to men's college hoops.

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But in a way, the 77-year-old Coach K has now earned the trophy a second time — this time, though, in an eternal sense.

On Monday, the NABC announced that it shall now don the Hall of Famer's name. So, beginning with the 2025 edition, the winner will receive the NABC Mike Krzyzewski Award.

"The NABC takes pride in celebrating on-court excellence and off-court impact — two characteristics that Mike Krzyzewski has for decades embodied," NABC executive director Craig Robinson said in the press release. "Renaming this honor after Coach K will further elevate the award's prestigious reputation, and is a fitting tribute to one of the most influential figures in sports history."

It may take Krzyzewski's successor, 37-year-old Jon Scheyer, another decade or more to rack up enough achievements to land his own NABC Mike Krzyzewski Award. After all, although Scheyer has won a national championship with the Blue Devils both as a player (2010) and assistant (2015), he's in just his third season at the helm in Durham.

Scheyer's 2024-25 Duke basketball squad, No. 7 in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll, tips off its campaign against Maine on Coach K Court in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7 p.m. ET Monday (ACC Network).

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