DePaul fired its head coach Jerry Wainwright yesterday and speculation has begun about who will take over the job. ESPN Analysts Jon Greenberg and Scott Powers wrote up a list of names with one that will certainly draw the attention, and maybe the ire, of Blue Devil fans: Chris Collins.
You can find Collins on TV every week, sitting snugly on one side of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, with fellow assistant Steve Wojciechowski on the other side. The two former Duke stars are the prohibitive favorites to take over the program when, and if, Coach K ever retires. Longtime Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins, another Coach K replacement possibility, struck out on his own to take over at Stanford. Would Collins, now an "associate head coach," leave a surefire assistant's job at his alma mater to come back to Chicago to take over a Big East doormat? If he's confident, yes. He's got a national Q rating and a name that would engender respect all over the city, not just in the suburbs.
Collins played for Duke for four years (1993-1996) and averaged just over nine points per game during his time in Durham. He joined the Duke coaching staff after the 1999-2000 season and has been a trusted assistant to Krzyzewski ever since—Krzyzewski even brought Collins along to help scout and run practices with the US Olympic Team.
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