Report: Duke considered Dawkins, Amaker to replace Coach K

UCF Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

Report: Duke considered Johnny Dawkins, Tommy Amaker to replace Mike Krzyzewski

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 6/2/21

Retiring Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski had a hand in choosing his successor, and it sounds like it was a fairly narrow group was considered to replace him.

Multiple reports indicated that current Blue Devils assistant Jon Scheyer would be announced as Krzyzewski’s successor. According to Jeff Goodman of Stadium, two other names were seriously considered for the role: Tommy Amaker and Johnny Dawkins, both former Duke players and assistants.

The two other names that Duke/Coach K was seriously considering before choosing Jon Scheyer was Tommy Amaker and Johnny Dawkins, source told @Stadium.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) June 2, 2021

Dawkins is currently the head coach at UCF, while Amaker holds the same position at Harvard. Both have been fairly successful at their current schools. Both also played for Coach K at Duke and served on his staff after their playing careers ended. It’s pretty obvious that no consideration was given to anyone who didn’t have existing ties to the Duke program.

It’s not really a huge surprise to see that Dawkins was considered. His UCF team nearly beat Duke in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, and Krzyzewski showered Dawkins and his team with praise after that game.

Ultimately, Duke maintains the most continuity by going with Scheyer, who is already on the staff and knows the players and how the program has operated in recent years. The same could not be said of Amaker or Dawkins, who haven’t worked at Duke since 1997 and 2008, respectively.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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