Special K's 12th Disciple: Will WoJo Have Mojo to Succeed With Marquette?
One of the biggest questions heading into next season will be who succeeds Steve Wojciechowski with Duke at the halftime fielding of blah lack-of-info babe questions. Let's face it! Candid Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski almost always dispatches one of his minions to endure such aimless interrogation torture apparently in order to reduce risk of reinjuring his back wincing at their incurable futility.
Coaching community shills have immediately proclaimed success for Wojciechowski after accepting the head coaching position with Marquette. But the overall impact of Coach K's 12 disciples in the aftermath of serving under the all-time winningest major-college mentor has been anything but special. They've combined for a losing mark in the NCAA playoffs (59 fewer tourney triumphs than Coach K's all-time high of 82) and only one regional final appearance (Quin Snyder with Missouri in 2002). Reserving judgment at this stage regarding any WoJo mojo, following is an alphabetical list summarizing the impact of Krzyzewski's assistants after they left his incubator and became a DI bench boss on their own:
| Coach K Assistant | NCAA Tourney Mark | Biggest Flaw of DI Head Coaching Career |
|---|---|---|
| Tommy Amaker | 4-4 | 14 games below .500 in power conference competition in 10 years with Seton Hall and Michigan |
| Bob Bender | 2-3 | 36 games below .500 in power conference competition in nine seasons with Washington |
| Mike Brey | 6-11 | no NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances in last 11 seasons with Notre Dame |
| Jeff Capel III | 4-3 | losing power conference record in five seasons with Oklahoma |
| Chris Collins | DNP | losing records overall (14-19) and in Big Ten Conference play (6-12) in first season with Northwestern |
| Johnny Dawkins | 2-1 | only one NCAA playoff appearance and 10 games below .500 in Pac-10/12 Conference play in first six seasons with Stanford |
| Mike Dement | 0-1 | losing conference mark in SWC and WAC in nine seasons with Southern Methodist |
| David Henderson | DNP | losing overall record in six seasons with Delaware |
| Tim O'Toole | DNP | losing overall record in eight seasons with Fairfield |
| Quin Snyder | 5-4 | never finished among undisputed top five in Big 12 Conference and compiled cumulative losing mark in last three of seven seasons with Missouri |
| Chuck Swenson | DNP | lost more than 2/3 of his games in seven seasons with William & Mary |
| Steve Wojciechowski | TBD | TBD |