Mike Krzyzewski has retired from basketball coaching after 47 years ©Getty Images

Mike Krzyzewski has put an end to his 47-year coaching career following Duke's loss to the University of North Carolina in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Men's Basketball Tournament semi-finals.

His Blue Devils side suffered a shock 81-77 defeat to the Tar Heels which prompted Krzyzewski to announce his retirement.

The American led the United States to three consecutive Olympic gold medals at Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio de Janeiro 2016.

He was also head coach of the US team that won the 2010 and 2014 Basketball World Cup.

Furthermore, the 75-year-old helped his country win the Los Angeles 1984 and Barcelona 1992 basketball tournaments as assistant coach.

Krzyzewski's achievements on the international stage led to him being regarded as one of the most-successful basketball coaches in history with a glittering college career.

Mike Krzyzewski led the United States to three consecutive Olympic basketball gold medals from 2008 to 2016 as head coach ©Getty Images
Mike Krzyzewski led the United States to three consecutive Olympic basketball gold medals from 2008 to 2016 as head coach ©Getty Images

The Chicagoan won a record 1,202 games and five NCAA titles from 1991 to 2015.

Duke's former co-associate head coach Jon Scheyer has taken over from Krzyzewski as head coach although there is speculation that the latter could return in order to secure its 2022 recruiting class.

"It leaves a huge gap at Duke," said former Chicago Bulls and Duke point guard Jay Williams to ESPN.

"The question is, who fills that void from a recruiting perspective?

"And it leads me to think, which I’ve been thinking a lot about since I heard this news, does Coach K come back for another season?

"One more final season."

Williams fears that Krzyzewski's departure could jeopardise Duke's incoming players, causing them to change their preferred destination.