NEW YORK—For Duke to take the title at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, it will have to go through a man who knows a thing or two about winning big games for the Blue Devils.
No. 4 Duke will face former Blue Devil Johnny Dawkins' Stanford squad Saturday at 9:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with a title on the line. It will be the first time Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has faced Dawkins—who led the Blue Devils to the 1986 national championship game—as a head coach.
"I'm proud of Johnny, what he's done with Stanford. They're an outstanding team," Krzyzewski said after Duke's 74-54 win against Temple to set up a matchup with Dawkins. "Johnny has a really good system with how he uses them. I'd rather not play him, but I'd rather play him tomorrow because that means we won tonight."
Although Krzyzewski boasts an extensive coaching tree, matchups with former players-turned-head-coaches are rare. Saturday's contest will be the first time one of Krzyzewski's former players has faced the Blue Devils as a head coach since Dec. 7, 2002, when Duke downed a Tommy Amaker-led Michigan team 81-59.
Playing for Duke from 1982-86, Dawkins averaged 19.2 points per game in his collegiate career, earning first-team All-America honors in 1985 and 1986. He was named Naismith Player of the Year as a senior, when the Blue Devils went to the first Final Four of Krzyzewski's career and fell to Louisville in the national title game. Dawkins' No. 24 is retired in the rafters at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"Johnny was the first great player to commit to me," Krzyzewski said. "He was as good a player as we've ever had at Duke, and a great man. Johnny's got the whole package."
Following a nine-year NBA career, Dawkins joined the Duke staff in 1998 and worked under Krzyzewski until taking the head coaching job at Stanford in 2008. The Cardinal made their first NCAA tournament appearance led by Dawkins in 2014 and turned some heads by reaching the Sweet 16 after an upset of No. 2 seed Kansas.
After Stanford (3-0) throttled UNLV 89-60 to reach the championship game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, Dawkins tried his best to downplay his first matchup against his old head coach.
"I don't think any of us [coaches] look forward to playing each other," Dawkins said. "[Krzyzewski] and I have always been so close that typically we do not play each other during the season. It just so happens that this is a tournament setting and you play the teams in front of you if they win."
An experienced Stanford squad is led by senior guard Chasson Randle, who enters Saturday's contest as the Cardinal's leading scorer at 17.7 points per game. The team's second- and third-leading scorers, Stefan Nastic and Anthony Brown, are both redshirt seniors.
Although Krzyzewski and Dawkins have never squared off on the court, Saturday's game will serve as a reminder of the battle won by Dawkins on the recruiting trail last spring. Krzyzewski wanted forward Reid Travis to become a fifth member of his team's star-studded freshman class, but the Minnesota native elected to play for Dawkins at Stanford instead.
Duke (4-0) will look to regain its offensive form after struggling to knock down open looks in the first half of a 20-point win against Temple Friday night. A win would give Krzyzewski more than a victory against one of his former players—it would also be the first time in the Blue Devil head coach's 35-year tenure that he has beaten Stanford. Duke is 0-2 all-time against the Cardinal, with its last loss coming Dec. 21, 2000.
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