Duke trying to avoid UNC's fate, should Coach K leave

After getting over the initial shock of learning longtime basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has entered into negotiations with the Los Angeles Lakers, Duke has begun bracing itself for life after Coach K -- and has used nearby North Carolina as an example of a pitfall to avoid.

According to a high-ranking Duke source, the Blue Devils are leery of making a UNC-like mistake in their hiring process should Krzyzewski leave for the Lakers. Three years ago when North Carolina replaced Bill Guthridge with Matt Doherty, and even six years ago when they replaced Dean Smith with Guthridge, the Tar Heels strayed when they stayed within the UNC "family" to hire a coach.

Guthridge coached and related to his players well, but was a poor recruiter. Doherty was an excellent recruiter but a young coach who stumbled in other areas. That combination led to the Tar Heels' 8-20 disaster of 2001-02, and to back-to-back failures to reach the NCAA Tournament in 2002 and '03.

Last season, family member Roy Williams left Kansas for North Carolina. That story looks headed for a happy ending.

After losing Shaun Livingston to the NBA Draft, L.A. may appeal to Coach K.(Getty Images)

But what about Duke? If Krzyzewski leaves for the Lakers, do the Blue Devils stay within his coaching tree? The choices are solid if not spectacular, most notably Mike Brey of Notre Dame and Tommy Amaker of Michigan.

Another in-family candidate would be lead assistant Johnny Dawkins, who has spurned a number of overtures in recent years to remain at Duke with the hope of replacing Krzyzewski.

No one thought that time might come as soon as this summer, however, and where that leaves Dawkins' candidacy is anyone's guess. The Duke source said that Dawkins would be a candidate, but called it unlikely that Dawkins would be given the job right away, without some sort of a search.

Ohio State is discovering how difficult it can be to hire a coach this late in the offseason, with the biggest recruiting month of the year set to begin next week. The Duke job has considerably more cache than the Buckeyes' opening, but Duke could run into the same problem as Ohio State: Coaches with the biggest names wouldn't want to go through a drawn-out search process, which would limit their recruiting ability at their current school should they not end up going to Duke.

As of early Thursday evening, Duke spokesman Jon Jackson said, the school was not putting together a list of names. No Mark Few, no Thad Matta -- no Louis Orr or Kelvin Sampson or Tubby Smith.

"There's only one name on our list," Jackson said. "Mike Krzyzewski. He's our coach."

But for how long? The high-ranking Duke source (not Jackson) said Krzyzewski wasn't speaking with the Lakers with ulterior motives in mind. Krzyzewski already is among the three best-paid coaches in college basketball, with a place in the Basketball Hall of Fame and the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and a courtyard outside the arena, bearing his name.

"Coach K doesn't play games," the source said. "If he's talking with the Lakers, then he's interested. I don't think it will take long. Why should it?"

Krzyzewski's interest in the Lakers, after he has turned down repeated inquiries from other NBA clubs through the years, no doubt was fueled by the Blue Devils' losses of freshman Luol Deng and recruit Shaun Livingston to the 2004 NBA Draft.

Earlier this week, Krzyzewski decried the state of the game, saying NBA teams were robbing college basketball of its "brand."

Now the NBA is trying to rob college basketball of its brand-name coach, leaving Duke to ponder the fate at rival North Carolina as it considers Coach K's replacement.