In a single week, the coaching staff of the men's basketball team has changed quite dramatically.
The first vacancy was created when Mike Brey left in April; then Pete Gaudet resigned three weeks ago. Now, head coach Mike Krzyzewski has a full staff once again.
Syracuse assistant Tim O'Toole was named to the third assistant coaching position Wednesday by Krzyzewski. This position was vacated by Gaudet on May 19. Gaudet cited the financial problems from the restricted-earnings position as the primary reason for stepping down.
O'Toole has served as the Orangemen's restricted-earnings coach for the past two years. A recent court decision has removed such monetary restrictions, but O'Toole still is limited in the amount of time he can serve as in that restricted position. Due to NCAA restrictions implicit in the assistant coaching position, O'Toole can only serve as Duke's third assistant for a maximum of three years.
Although O'Toole is not a familiar name to most Duke fans, he is still very familiar with the Duke basketball family. A native of White Plains, N.Y., O'Toole attended some of Krzyzewski's basketball camps when Krzyzewski was head coach at Army.
"I'm very excited about Tim joining our staff," Krzyzewski said. "I've known him since he was a camper at my West Point camp. I've seen Tim develop in high school and college as a player, and now as a college assistant coach. Tim is an enthusiastic coach, and the players will love him."
O'Toole recalled fond memories of his first meeting with Krzyzewski.
"When I was a kid, I grew up in White Plains, which is seven miles from Iona College," O'Toole said. "At the time, Jimmy [Valvano] was coaching there and Coach K was at West Point. I fell in love with the way West Point played. That summer I went to camp. I was all alone and [Krzyzewski] saw me kind of fidgeting, like any little kid would be. So he came over and introduced himself [to me] and my parents, then he grabbed my bag and took off for my room."
That initial meeting has led to a continuing relationship between O'Toole and Krzyzewski. O'Toole credits Krzyzewski's camps with his defensive abilities and part of the reason he was able to obtain a basketball scholarship.
He played at Fairfield University in Connecticut, leading the team to two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles and a pair of NCAA tournament berths. His collegiate basketball experience has given him a fair amount of experience to utilize as a coach.
"I played every position in my college career," O'Toole said. "I was recruited as a point guard...I had to keep bouncing around. I just look back at it and it was a blessing."
Since graduating from Fairfield, O'Toole has held a variety of coaching positions, serving as graduate assistant at Fordham, part-time assistant at Army and full-time assistant at Iona. His most recent coaching experience has been a four-year stint at Syracuse.
Even his position with the Orangemen had a little bit of a Duke touch. Krzyzewski recommended O'Toole for the job to Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim.
"I had to work as hard as possible at Syracuse," O'Toole said. "I didn't want to jeopardize that contact, that reference. There's a tremendous level of gratitude and debt that I have for Coach K."
Although he owes Krzyzewski a good deal for his position at Syracuse, O'Toole still found it difficult to leave the Orangemen.
"It was very hard for me to leave Coach Boeheim," O'Toole said. "I learned so much, just being in the office and being around him. That experience helped me come down here."
During his time at Syracuse, O'Toole was able to develop his coaching talent in areas such as scouting, game preparation and reviewing game tapes.
"We haven't tackled actual responsibilities," O'Toole said of the new coaching staff. "In my eight years of coaching, I have kind of covered everything. I have a strange feeling that I will do the scouting. That's what I did up at Syracuse."
Even though his experience with the Orangemen was rewarding, O'Toole is very excited about his position with the Blue Devils.
"It's a dream come true," O'Toole said. "Words do not do justice to what I'm trying to express...It's kind of like hitting the lotto or Christmas every day."
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