Special K's Disciples: Will Any of Pupils Reach NCAA Tournament Final Four?
One of the biggest questions bubbling up from time to time deals with who is most likely to eventually succeed Mike Krzyzewski as coach at Duke. Let's face it! We won't get the answer from halftime fielding of blah lack-of-info babe how-do-you-feel questions. During the regular season, Krzyzewski frequently dispatches one of his minions to endure such aimless interrogation torture seemingly in order to reduce risk of re-injuring back wincing at their incurable futility.
Coaching community shills frequently proclaim automatic success for Duke assistants when they become bench bosses. 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 (more than 60 fewer tourney triumphs than Coach K's all-time high approaching 100) and only three regional final appearances (Quin Snyder with Missouri in 2002 before Mike Brey with Notre Dame in 2015 and 2016). 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 | 4-5 | 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 | 13-14 | no NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances in first 11 seasons with Notre Dame |
| Jeff Capel III | 4-3 | new Pitt mentor compiled losing power conference record in five seasons with Oklahoma |
| Chris Collins | 1-1 | losing record in Big Ten Conference play in first four seasons with Northwestern |
| Johnny Dawkins | 3-2 | only one NCAA playoff appearance and 10 games below .500 in Pac-10/12 Conference play in eight seasons with Stanford before dismissal led him to UCF and entertaining NCAA playoff game in 2019 |
| 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 | 0-2 | losing Big East Conference record in first three seasons with Marquette |
NOTE: Duke All-American guard Bobby Hurley, who never served as an assistant coach under Krzyzewski, has compiled a 1-3 NCAA tourney record with Buffalo and Arizona State.