When Duke and Michigan State collide in the Sweet 16 Friday, it will be more than a clash of two storied college basketball programs.
It will be a battle of two patriarchs.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been at the helm of his team for 15 years longer than Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, but both have built substantial “coaching trees” of assistants who have become head coaches elsewhere.
Krzyzewski’s tree includes five active head coaches and eight overall. Three of his former assistants currently lead big-time programs—Tommy Amaker (Michigan), Mike Brey (Notre Dame) and Quin Snyder (Missouri). Tim O’Toole continues to coach at Fairfield while David Henderson serves at Delaware.
Three former Krzyzewski assistants are no longer with the programs they took over: Bob Bender (Washington), Chuck Swenson (WIlliam & Mary) and Mike Dement (Southern Methodist).
Izzo’s tree has already sprouted five branches despite his shorter tenure. Izzo disciples include Stan Heath (Arkansas), Tom Crean (Marquette), Brian Gregory (Dayton), Stan Joplin (Toledo) and Mike Garland (Cleveland State), all of whom are active.
“One, it means that we’ve been coaching a long time so we’ve been able to keep our own jobs,” Krzyzewski said. “Secondly, it probably means that we’ve hired real well, and they made us better while they were on our staffs.”
Because three of Krzyzewski’s former assistants were fired, two have been investigated by the NCAA and none has reached a Final Four at his new school, observers question Krzyzewski’s ability to teach his assistants how to be top college coaches.
The investigations involved Snyder and O’Toole. Snyder’s staff was alleged to have given cash, meals and gifts to players and recruits. O’Toole’s staff was also accused of giving cash to players, as well as falsifying drug tests and doing schoolwork for players.
None have reached Krzyzewski-esque heights, but the apprentices have achieved levels of success that other coaches would dream of attaining. Snyder’s Missouri squad reached the Elite Eight in 2002, the middle season in a strong three-year stretch for the Tigers.
Amaker surprised many when he led Seton Hall to the Sweet 16 in 2000, and he used his success to jump into the driver’s seat at Michigan in 2001, less than a decade removed from the days of the “Fab Five.” But the early 1990s have come to haunt Amaker as NCAA sanctions, a result of the program’s transgressions, and the University’s self-imposed punishments have hindered the coach’s ability to recruit and compete in the Big Ten.
Brey has been the most consistent of the former Duke assistants. During his first head coaching tenure at Delaware, Brey led his squad to two NCAA Tournament appearances before leaving for Notre Dame’s more lucrative opportunity in 2000. With the Fighting Irish, Brey has advanced as far as the Sweet 16, in which he appeared in 2003.
Besides avoiding NCAA investigation, Izzo’s clan has been more successful in NCAA Tournament play.
Crean’s Golden Eagles made the Final Four in 2003 with a team starring Dwayne Wade, now an All-Star for the Miami Heat, and the coach has posted a record of 121-65 in six seasons.
Heath went from MSU to Kent State, where he was immediately successful in his only season. He won 30 games, advanced to the Elite Eight and took Nolan Richardson’s old job at Arkansas a few days later.
It is not a coincidence that Crean, Heath and the other three former MSU assistants have succeeded at a high rate. Besides a focus on building a winning program, Izzo is widely known as a coach who dedicates himself to turning his proteges into successful head coaches.
“After my third year [at MSU] and we went to the Final Four, [Izzo] pulled me aside and said, ‘You have to think like a head coach,’” Heath told the Detroit News. “‘You are going to be in a position to be a head coach, and I want to make sure you are ready.’”
Krzyzewski said Tuesday that MSU’s Doug Wojcik has accepted an offer to coach Tulsa at the conclusion of this season, which would raise the total of Izzo assistants now coaching to six.
Will Izzo continue to gain on Krzyzewski, or are some of the Duke assistants ready to move on as well?
“The guys on my staff, I’m not announcing any jobs for them, but I’m sure that they’ll be very successful head coaches,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s something you’re proud of, and I’m sure that Tom is, also.”
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