The college basketball offseason is barely a week old, but coaches with Duke links are making quite a splash as they move around. With Mike Krzyzewski still running things at Duke, he has recently seen a pair of former players take their first head coaching jobs heading into the 2013-2014 season.
Bobby Hurley and Chris Collins are just two of the numerous guards Coach K has had on his team in the past. Their paths to a D1 head coaching job might be different, but both will get a shot to make their mark at schools with very little basketball tradition. This means that they will get a shot to make their own legacy, and possibly land a bigger payday down the road.
Despite entering the coaching game late, Hurley can lean on both his dad (Bob Hurley Sr.) and his coach at Duke when he settles in for his first season at Buffalo. It will also help him on the recruiting trail that just about any college basketball follower, or fantasy basketball player, will know who he is. As one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport, he appears to have the energy and desire to begin competing right away in the MAC.
Collins has taken the much more traditional approach to coaching, as he has been on the Duke sidelines for quite a while learning directly under Krzyzewski. There have been rumors and offers thrown his way in the past, but the Chicago-area native felt Northwestern was the right fit for him.
Despite the Wildcats having very little success in basketball throughout their history, Collins feels like success can happen there. The Big Ten is certainly a grinder, but the right recruiting philosophy and scheduling out of conference could finally get them in the tournament.
Both coaches certainly have their work cut out for them, but the D1 Duke coaching connections continue to grow. They are going to have the chance to prove they can turn things around at historically bad schools, which means the chance for advancement (if they win) could be high.
