The men's basketball team is getting a brand new start.
After finishing in the cellar of the Atlantic Coast Conference, it probably needs one. Half of the Duke coaching staff will be new for the 1995-96 season. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski tabbed alumnus Quin Snyder as assistant coach on June 1. Snyder will fill the spot vacated by Mike Brey, who left the Blue Devils on April 12 to become the head coach at the University of Delaware.
"I made a decision back in February to pursue coaching full-time," Snyder said. "I did a formal mailing to a lot of coaches. I was prepared to go anywhere to do it. I didn't have to--I'm probably the luckiest guy in the world right now. I feel really fortunate that this opportunity presented itself."
Krzyzewski guided the Blue Devils to a 117-27 record during Snyder's playing career. He is confident about Snyder's potential to contribute as an assistant coach.
"I'm real excited about Quin joining our coaching staff," Krzyzewski said. "He has tremendous potential as a young coach and will bring a high level of knowledge and experience to our staff...Quin will also bring a natural excitement and energy to the program and add great perspective in working with student-athletes as a former Duke player."
During his career at Duke, Snyder played on three Final Four teams and served up 575 assists--good enough to rank third among Duke's all-time career assist leaders. He averaged 6.2 points per game and was also honored as an Academic All-American.
"One of the things that Duke prides itself in is having its players recruit," Snyder said. "I'm comfortable with that whole process. I'm wearing a different hat now, but it's the same thing."
Since his playing career, Snyder has indeed worn many different hats. After he received his bachelor's degree in May of 1989, he entered a joint degree program at Duke Law School and Fuqua School of Business. Two years into the program, however, he took a leave of absence to spend a year with the Los Angeles Clippers as an assistant coach.
"[My experience with the Clippers] came at a great time," Snyder said. "I had just completed two first years of graduate school. The first year of law school is a bear and doing the first year of business school on top of that, I was tired.
"It was a great break in that sense from grad school. I did a little bit of everything. It gave me tremendous breadth in experience, as far as being on the bench during games, doing advance scouting and doing preparation."
After that season with the Clippers, Snyder returned to Duke to finish his business and law degrees, graduating from the program in May. He also served as an administrative assistant for the basketball team the past two seasons.
"Coach K wanted to keep me involved with the program," Snyder said of his work as an administrative assistant. "I had expressed an interest to do that in any way possible. One of the main things I did was that I tried to start a nonprofit foundation for former Duke players, managers and coaches. We wanted to create a membership, whether it be for post-graduate scholarships or social events."
While the only coaching experience Snyder has is the lone season in Los Angeles, Snyder feels confident that he can fill the assistant coaching role at his alma mater.
"I have some mentors that I can turn to for guidance," Snyder said. "The biggest thing for me is to work hard. Fortunately I have [assistant coach Tommy Amaker], and I've been listening to his phone conversations for a couple of years. And [director of basketball operations] Chuck Swenson is another incredible resource for me."
Although the 1994-95 season will surely be an unforgettable one, Snyder feels that this is a good time to come into the Duke basketball program.
"This is a time when you're going to see Coach K pulling out the stops," Snyder said. "It's a great time to come in and learn. You probably learn more during the tough times than when things are going smoothly. There's just a lot of enthusiasm around here."
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