Great hire.



Stanford hires Duke assistant Dawkins as basketball coach

By JANIE McCAULEY,

AP Sports Writer
Sat Apr 26,2008



SAN FRANCISCO - Johnny Dawkins, a longtime assistant coach at Duke, has been hired as Stanford's new basketball coach.



Dawkins replaces Pac-10 Coach of the Year Trent Johnson, who left for LSU earlier this month. Dawkins will be formally introduced in a news conference on campus Monday, the school said.

"We are thrilled to welcome Johnny and his family to Stanford," athletic director Bob Bowlsby said in a statement. "His credentials as a player, combined with his coaching experience gained mentoring under a Hall of Fame coach at a university such as Duke, made him a perfect fit for Stanford. The philosophies of the two programs both on the court and in the classroom are very similar. I am confident Johnny's leadership skills, coaching ability and commitment to attract top-flight student-athletes will be a driving force in continuing Stanford's tradition of basketball excellence."

Dawkins has no prior head coaching experience. He most recently was the Blue Devils' top assistant under Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, responsible for player development and other duties.

The 44-year-old Dawkins was an All-American at Duke and has been on the coaching staff there since the 1997-98 season — the last nine as associate head coach.

Stanford reached the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001, losing to Texas. The Cardinal face the departures of twin 7-foot sophomores Brook and Robin Lopez, who both declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft.

With Dawkins leaving Duke, it breaks apart the longest continuous serving coaching staff in the Atlantic Coast Conference, a tight-knit group of former Blue Devils players under Krzyzewski.

Dawkins, who did not return an e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment, finished his playing career at Duke as the school's career scoring leader with 2,556 points — a mark that was broken in 2006 by J.J. Redick. In his 11 seasons as Coach K's right-hand man, he helped guide the Blue Devils to six ACC regular-season titles, seven conference tournament crowns and the storied program's third and most recent national championship in 2001.

Dawkins was the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 1986 NBA draft by San Antonio, and played nine NBA seasons with the Spurs, 76ers and Pistons.

When Johnson left Stanford, it was somewhat of a surprise despite the fact he was waiting for a contract extension. He met with LSU officials at the Final Four in San Antonio and a deal came together quickly.

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AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this story.


Bio.

1) Johnny Dawkins couldn't have been groomed any more than he has.
2) Duke's program has been gradually slipping.

If he wasn't going to leave now, he never would have....

It should be every assistant's dream to coach on the D1 level. I hope he gets the recuits he needs to be successful.

I say his tenure was long overdue.

quote:

Originally posted by THE DREAMER:
I say his tenure was long overdue.

While that may be true, remember he turned down a lot of job offers while Duke was still duke. Im sure the last few years of early round exits in the NCAA tourney helped push him out of the comfort zone of Duke. Why leave Duke to be fired? What i mean is he had a job for life at Duke, as long as Coach K was there and im sure he wouldve been the successor had coach k retired.

May be Dawkins will be different, but some of the coaches with Duke backgounds have been mediocre at best including Dave Henderson and Tommy Amaker. Just because you played for Coach K or coached under him mean that you will be a sucessful head coach.

IT'S ABOUT TIME HE GOT A JOB!!!!

THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY BASKETBALLS AN ASSISTANT CAN ROLL OUT IN PRACTICE WITHOUT GETTING CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME.

i hope he does well but i've got to agree with morgan74, dawkins comes from the same mold as tommy amaker. dawkins has never been a head coach before and he may need some time to adjust. being a head coach is a whole new ballgame for him but it helps that he coached at duke for many years since stanford recruits similar student athletes as duke…