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- Coach K got his way in terms of his successor at Duke, despite the program reportedly wanting to go a different direction.
- Jon Scheyer will take over for Coach K next season, but the Blue Devils had another name circled.
- Be sure to check out more sports stories at BroBible here.
Duke wanted to hire Harvard basketball coach Tommy Amaker to take over for Mike Krzyzewski next season following his retirement, but Coach K had different ideas. To no real surprise, Coach K got his way, despite things getting pretty messy along the way.
According to Ian O’Connor’s new book “Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski,” Duke went as far as to offer the job to Amaker before ultimately announcing Jon Scheyer as Coach K’s successor.
Amaker both played and coached under Krzyzewski at Duke, therefore the two clearly have some sort of relationship, but that didn’t keep Coach K from stepping in and telling Amaker that he wasn’t the right guy for the job.
O’Connor’s book explains that Krzyzewski had a Zoom call with Amaker last year and essentially had to rattle off reasons as to why he couldn’t be his successor.
“Mike had to explain to Tommy why he couldn’t be the guy,” said one Duke source. “He can be Don Corleone when he needs to be.”
The biggest reason Coach K wanted Scheyer to step in and take over instead of Amaker is because he “would maintain more control over the program” with the 34-year-old in charge, according to the book.
It’s worth noting that Scheyer has never coached anywhere other than Duke, but Amaker left Duke for a job at Seton Hall back in 1997.
Amaker’s resume speaks for itself as he has helped lead Harvard to four of its five NCAA tournament appearances in school history. He’s also managed to post a record of 261-146 since taking over at Harvard ahead of the 2007 season.
Perhaps Coach K resents him for leaving the program 25 years ago, or maybe Krzyzewski just sees Scheyer as the better fit. We’ll soon find out after Coach K’s farewell tour wraps up.