Duke basketball guard Andre Dawkins Mark Dolejs-Imagn Images

Prep Respects Coach Andre Dawkins' Duke Basketball Career

Originally posted on Duke Blue Devils on SI
By Matt Giles | Last updated Dec 20, 2024 10:12 AM ET

Former Duke basketball guard Andre Dawkins, who emerged in March 2010 as a freshman spark off the bench to help Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils capture the program's fourth of five national championships, is now the 33-year-old head coach of the Charlottesville High School (Va.) Black Knights.

However, it isn't Dawkins' first job as a head coach. He posted a 38-13 record across two seasons at Mount St. Mary High School in Oklahoma City before his wife accepted a job in the Virginia athletic department and they moved to Charlottesville, 175 miles from the 2009-14 Duke basketball sharpshooter's hometown of Chesapeake, Va.

Dawkins has big shoes to fill in replacing former 30-season Black Knights head coach Mitch Minor.

Thus far, he's off to a mediocre 3-3 start. That said, as CBS19 News' Aniekan Okon reported on Thursday evening, Dawkins' success as a Blue Devil, not to mention his four NBA outings and three career points with the Miami Heat in 2014-15, has demanded the attention of his players.

"I went on Google and then was like, 'Oh, he played at Duke,'" Charlottesville junior guard Jacoby Lynch explained to Okon. "So, he's definitely legit."

"I went on Google and was like 'oh he played at Duke'"

Andre Dawkins (@dre_dawkins) is in the midst of his first season as the boys coach at @CHSBlackKnights where he is hoping to continue the school's tradition of success on the basketball floor: https://t.co/i6FcwiOmL7 pic.twitter.com/lGZN2apghQ
— Aniekan Okon (@aniekansokon) December 19, 2024

Meanwhile, Dawkins hasn't forgotten what he learned from Coach K in Durham.

"I find myself repeating a lot of the stuff that he said to us in college," Dawkins told Okon.

Evidence of that Mike Krzyzewski impact lies in Lynch's description of Andre Dawkins' undeterred hopes for his young squad.

"I know a lot of people outside of this CHS area have been saying this is gonna be our rebuilding year," Lynch said, "and he's totally just throwing that in the trash...This isn't a rebuilding year. We're trying to do even better than what we did last year."

The Black Knights aim to bounce back from Wednesday night's 57-51 loss at Eastern View High School and reclaim a winning record when they travel to face Orange County High School at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday.

This article first appeared on Duke Blue Devils on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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