Duke assistant Chris Collins heavy favorite at Northwestern

It was no secret that Chris Collins would be involved at Northwestern if and when Bill Carmody was fired. The Duke associate head coach and Illinois native has now emerged as the clear favorite for the job.

Duke associate head coach and Illinois native Chris Collins is the heavy frontrunner to replace Bill Carmody at Northwestern. 

According to sources, Collins met with the Northwestern administration on Monday and has emerged as the clear favorite to try to get the Wildcats into the NCAA tournament for the first time. 

Collins is a former Illinois Mr. Basketball and McDonald's All-American out of Glenbrook North High. He played at Duke in the mid 1990s, and has been on Mike Krzyzewski's staff since 2000. He was also an assistant under Tommy Amaker at Seton Hall for two seasons. 

Collins' father, Doug, is the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Collins would replace Carmody, who was unable to get the Wildcats into the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history in his 13 seasons at the helm. Carmody was close, going to four straight NITs from 2009 to 2012. However, he was fired after the team was 13-19 this past season.