Coach K makes more than $4 million a year -- and he's worth it too

Private schools aren't required to release contract details of their employees, so the Raleigh News & Observer went to great lengths to obtain Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's salary figure.

The newspaper obtained Duke's fiscal reports to the Internal Revenue Service, which showed that Krzyzewski's total compensation exceeded $4.19 million during the 2008-09 fiscal year.

It's difficult to evaluate exactly where that figure stacks up because it includes Krzyzewski's base salary, incentives and other revenue sources, but it's clear the Duke coach is among the highest paid in his profession. Kentucky's John Calipari makes $4 million a year in base salary and incentives, and Florida's Billy Donovan, Kansas' Bill Self and Michigan State's Tom Izzo each make in excess of $3 million.

Asked about his pay during a news conference at the Final Four earlier this year, Krzyzewski responded by pointing out that like anyone else, coaches are paid what the market will bear.

"If you're at a program for a long time, if you're at a school for a long time, you become much more than just a basketball coach at the school," Krzyzewski said. "You become an ambassador for the school."

Krzyzewski's pay will surely rise after leading Duke to the national title this year, but it doesn't appear as though the Blue Devils will have to pony up to keep him from bolting for the NBA. In an interview with John Berman that will air on ABC's "Nightline" on Tuesday night, Krzyzewski reiterated that he has no interest in leaving Duke in the future:

Good news for Duke fans and bad news for everyone else because that's about as definitive as it gets.