Jan 26, 2015 10:22 AM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

During the Duke Blue Devils' recent weeklong layoff between games, coach Mike Krzyzewski stressed to his players to not concern themselves with his 1,000th victory.

According to USA Today, that was "Coach K's" message in between Duke's game last Monday in Durham and then six days later in New York City. Duke fell behind St. John's Sunday, perhaps due to the weight of the game, but rallied in the second half to 77-68 win, the 1,000th in Krzyzewski's coaching career.

He is now the only NCAA Division I men's basketball coach to reach that plateau, though Pat Summitt has done it in the women's game. Quickly after the game, "Coach 1K" was on the Duke players' shirts and hats and the hashtag was spreading across Twitter with congratulations from all over.

The Duke Chronicle complied quotes from several notable alums and players who Krzyzewski has coached, such as Grant Hill, Jay Williams, Christian Laettner, Jabari Parker and more.

Duke University's School of Medicine made note of Coach K's "healthy" tenure.

Someone who grew up in North Carolina shared an anecdote of Krzyzewski politely spelling his name to a technician at a local pharmacy.

The U.S. Military Academy, Krzyzewski's alma mater, released a video with athletic department personnel and others offering their congratulations.

Even Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, acknowledged the feat.

Speaking with ESPN on the sideline after the game, the coach credited Bob Knight, his former coach at Indiana and mentor, as well as any former assistant coach or player who had a hand in one of his thousand wins.

Though Krzyzewski may have been trying all week to get his players to ignore the significance, it seemed as though Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook and co. were all too aware of what they were playing for.

"The length in between games hurt us, we played Monday and then Sunday so there was more stuff that could come out," Coach K said after the game, surrounded by his players. "I thought we did a good job, but we got soft during the game and so I don't know if they got a little bit afraid, you know, by wanting to do it. I didn't want to put that pressure on them. Then all of a sudden they changed. I hope they wanted it for them too.

"Everybody who played for me is apart of this because when a coach achieves a record he brings all the players that have played for him and all the assistants that have worked for him, they've all been apart of it, the coach just gets the credit."

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