Tommy Amaker’s involvement in the search to replace the retiring Mike Krzyzewski as Duke’s basketball coach drew him closer to getting the job that eventually went to Jon Scheyer than anyone else, according to a book set to be published next week.
While Amaker, along with Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel, were known to have been under consideration as Duke’s coach-in-waiting this season, New York Post sports columnist Ian O’Connor’s upcoming book “The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski” details how “heartbroken” Amaker was that Krzyzewski preferred Scheyer get the job.
A former Duke point guard and assistant coach under Krzyzewski, the 56-year-old Amaker has been Harvard’s head coach since 2007 after previous head coaching stops at Seton Hall (1997-2001) and Michigan (2001-07).
Neither Amaker nor Krzyzewski agreed to be interviewed for the book.
As The News & Observer and other media outlets have previously reported, in April 2021 Krzyzewski and his wife, Mickie, decided this would be his final season as Duke’s head coach after 42 seasons. His plan was for a successor to be on staff to handle recruiting for future seasons since Krzyzewski didn’t feel it would be right for him to recruit players for 2022 and beyond knowing he wouldn’t be coaching them.
A West Point graduate, Krzyzewski also preferred this succession plan as it followed Army protocol of having a retiring officer work alongside his successor before leaving.
Last May, Duke quietly put together a search committee to name the coach-in-waiting. The group, headed by deputy athletics director Jon Jackson, eventually decided on the now 34-year-old Scheyer, another former Duke player who has been on Krzyzewski’s staff as an assistant since 2014.
That move checked boxes that make the succession as smooth as possible. Had a sitting head coach from another school, like Amaker or Capel, been chosen, he would have had to leave that job to join Duke’s staff for a season as an assistant to handle the recruiting duties Krzyzewski was vacating.
Creating room for an outside choice as coach-in-waiting also would have necessitated demoting assistant coach Nolan Smith, who in early April 2021 had been promoted to assistant coach following Nate James’ departure from the staff to become head coach at Austin Peay.
O’Connor’s book, though, reports Duke actually offered the job to Amaker before Krzyzewski threw his support behind Scheyer. O’Connor reports Krzyzewski held a Zoom call with Amaker to explain the situation.
Reached Tuesday morning, Jackson did not confirm or deny the report, telling The News & Observer “it is university policy to not comment on personnel matters.”
Last June, when Krzyzewski announced his retirement plans and Duke chose Scheyer, Amaker released a statement via Twitter praising his former head coach and celebrating Scheyer.
“I could not be more excited for Jon,” Amaker wrote, “and the opportunity he has in front of him to continue the great tradition of Duke basketball. As a former player, I am thrilled that one of us is taking the mantle.”
Krzyzewski celebrated his 75th birthday last Sunday. In his final season, he’s led Duke to a 21-4 overall record and has the Blue Devils tied with Notre Dame for first place in the ACC at 11-3 in league play.
The No. 9-ranked Blue Devils play Wake Forest Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
