Report: Coach K pushed for Scheyer as his successor over Amaker
Outgoing Duke men's basketball bench boss Mike Krzyzewski pushed for associate head coach Jon Scheyer to succeed him over Harvard's Tommy Amaker despite the school's clear support of the latter candidate, Ian O'Connor writes in his upcoming book, "Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski."
The 75-year-old approached Scheyer about replacing him shortly after telling his coaching staff about his plans to retire. In spite of that, the Blue Devils still decided to carry out a search for Krzyzewski's successor, and university president Vincent Price honed in on Amaker as the top candidate.
Krzyzewski apparently spoke directly with Amaker to relay why he couldn't be his successor as Duke's coach and how his hiring would've created an awkward dynamic between him and Scheyer. A "heartbroken" Amaker reluctantly didn't take the job.
Both Scheyer and Amaker played for Krzyzewski and also coached on his staff. Amaker left the school to join Seton Hall in 1997 before eventually joining Harvard as head coach in 2007, while Scheyer has remained with the Blue Devils since they hired him as an assistant in 2013. The program elevated Scheyer to his current position in 2018.