Early Years and Playing Career
Krzyzewski was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Polish American parents Emily M. (née Pituch) and William Krzyzewski. He has roots in the Pittsburgh area, as his maternal grandparents emigrated from Poland to Keisterville, Pennsylvania. Up until he was 10 or 12, he visited there every summer; Krzyzewski had stated that he suspects the purpose of such trips was to "teach you to know where you came from and to be proud of it."
Raised as a Catholic, Krzyzewski attended Archbishop Weber High School in Chicago, a Catholic prep school for boys. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1969, and played basketball under Bob Knight while training to become an officer in the Army. He was captain of the Army basketball team in his senior season, 1968–69, leading his team to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
From 1969 to 1974, Krzyzewski served in the Army and directed service teams for three years. In 2005 he was presented West Point's Distinguished Graduate Award.
Read more about this topic: Mike Krzyzewski
Famous quotes containing the words early years, early, years, playing and/or career:
“If there is a price to pay for the privilege of spending the early years of child rearing in the driver’s seat, it is our reluctance, our inability, to tolerate being demoted to the backseat. Spurred by our success in programming our children during the preschool years, we may find it difficult to forgo in later states the level of control that once afforded us so much satisfaction.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“Even today . . . experts, usually male, tell women how to be mothers and warn them that they should not have children if they have any intention of leaving their side in their early years. . . . Children don’t need parents’ full-time attendance or attention at any stage of their development. Many people will help take care of their needs, depending on who their parents are and how they chose to fulfill their roles.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“It seemed the mockery of hell to fold
The rottenness of eighty years in gold.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“All those who dwell in the depths find their happiness in being like flying fish for once and playing on the uppermost crests of the waves. What they value most in things is that they have a surface, their “epidermality”Msit venia verbo.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“In time your relatives will come to accept the idea that a career is as important to you as your family. Of course, in time the polar ice cap will melt.”
—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)