Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski orchestrated the hiring of Jon Scheyer as his replacement, leading the university to bypass its first choice for the job, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, according to an upcoming book.
In “Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski,” author Ian O’Connor details the coach’s four decades at Duke. Krzyzewski announced last June that he’d be retiring after this season, and the university simultaneously introduced Scheyer as his successor.
O’Connor tells the story of how Krzyzewski reacted when Duke officials decided to hire Amaker, who played for Coach K in the mid-1980s and later joined him on the bench, rather than Scheyer, another ex-Duke player and the associate head coach.
According to the book, when Krzyzewski decided to retire, he asked Scheyer if he’d be interested in the job. The answer was yes. As administrators and athletic department administrators conducted a search for his replacement, university president Vincent Price wanted Amaker to succeed the Hall of Fame coach.
Amaker was an assistant coach at Duke for nine seasons but accepted the head coaching job at Seton Hall in 1997. He subsequently coached at Michigan and has been at Harvard since 2007. Amaker, 56, has a 438-238 record and has led Harvard to seven Ivy League regular-season championships and four NCAA Tournament berths.
According to the book, Krzyzewski called Amaker and engaged in “a very difficult conversation” and told him that if he returned to Duke, he’d be an assistant coach for a season – putting another coach out of a job – and would face an “awkward dynamic with Scheyer.”
Amaker pulled out of pursuing the plum job and was described as “heartbroken.”
“Mike had to explain to Tommy why he couldn’t be the guy,” a Duke source was quoted as saying in the book. “He can be Don Corleone when he needs to be.”
The book will be released Feb. 22.
Krzyzewski has a 1,118-306 record in his 42 seasons at Duke, winning five national championships.
Scheyer, 34, played for the Blue Devils from 2006-10, helping the team to the national championship in his senior season. He joined the Duke coaching staff in 2013 and was promoted to associate head coach before the 2019 season.
He will enter his first season in 2022-23 with the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, which includes four five-star players, per the 247Sports composite.
–Field Level Media