Chris Spatola

[buddy]

Duke Basketball is about family. Their hires are more often than not former players for a reason. Skeptical? Of what? Who is more qualified than Spatola?

I can't speak for Debbie or Jamie, nor can I tell you who hired them. I can tell you that they love the program immensely and work hard to promote Duke in the very best light. In their case, perhaps the best person for the job were those who understood the inner workings and the goals of said program.

I am around Duke athletics and campus a lot due to coverage. I have always seen Debbie working hard behind the scenes and know that people like Mike Cragg think a lot of her.

As for Spatola ... I have had the opportunity to see him in his element. He is attentive, concerned and projects a professional image. He knows basketball in a big way and has tutored under Schrage for a long time now. He is active within the camps and well, I see little drop off with regards to the position.

My thinking is that Coach K saw his skills and decided to bring him into the program a bit back. He payed his dues and the assistants think a lot of him. Besides, Duke Basketball is about family and if that's a problem, we can petition to dump K and hire one of those cheese factory guys.

The bottom line is that he'll do a good job and the other hires are working out too. Our coach is a legend folks! If he is a bit of a family lean, so be it.

that Debbie, Lindy, and Jamie are intelligent and hardworking, nor that Chris has the qualifications for the new job. And I fully understand that Duke Basketball is a "family". My concern is that Duke Basketball is also an enterprise of which Coach K is the CEO. Organizations must constantly innovate to succeed. The position of CEO can be lonely, and it is understandable that he would want to surround himself with known quantities. The danger is that he surrounds himself with individuals who never have been and cannot now be dispassionate about the boss. Organizations that turn inward ossify and lose their competitiveness. Coach himself is a student of organizational behavior, so I am certain he understands this. My concern is that Coach, by increasingly surrounding himself with family and former players, is cutting himself off on a day-to-day basis from people who could challenge his ideas, thereby requiring him to continually examine them.

[SmartDevil]

1. It isn't fair to use the word "sinecure" regarding the K family's positions. That implies a phony job, and that would be against everything the hard-working, guided-by-principle Coach K illustrates in all aspects of his life.

2. Through his extensive contacts, Coach K could easily place his three daughters and no doubt their husbands in any one of numerous more remunerative and prestigious positions in corporate America.

3. The reason he has placed family members in key positions in "the K universe" is almost certainly because he is familiar with their talents and also knows how hard they will work to achieve maximum results...and knowing they will do ALL they can not to let him down.

4. About 7 or 8 ago on one of my returns to Duke, I found myself in a small group of people who bumped into one of K's daughters (unnamed here) who introduced herself and volunteered to give us a tour. This woman had incredible personality and obvious intelligence. A fantastic communicator. I remember thinking at the time that she had the potential to be a media star or business leader or possibly even a charismatic political leader.


Don't sell the K genes short. I'm sure the K family members are returning darn good value for whatever they are paid in service to Duke, K's charities, etc.

[BCGroup]

It's all about connections and who you know. Of course, there are thousands of people who are more qualified and who would have killed for the position; however, they didn't marry K's daughter. As for Spatola using this job to advance his career, it may be true; he may have seen K's daughter as his Willy Wonka Golden Ticket. However, I would have a lot more respect for him and take him more seriously if he had attempted to travel a path that wasn't paved by his father-in-law...

Don't you think this is a little harsh? Of course connections played a role, but in what part of life is that not true? I needed to hire someone for a project I am in charge of and I hired a good friend of mine who I could trust. There are plenty of other college professors I work with and I could have advertised and gotten lots of people who wanted to do the work. The bottom line, I know this person, knew I could trust her if there was a problem (which ended up happening) and I knew the work would be quality. I've also given her opportunities for publishing and presenting, which is worth a lot in the college world of promotion and tenure. I thought part of that was me mentoring her, part of it is because we are friends and I don't mind helping friends. But then again, maybe she sees her friendship with me as a Willy Wonka Bronze Ticket (Because her opportunities for working with me aren't worth as much as K). I am sorry you feel that negatively and strongly about his purposes for marriage, especially if you don't have anything other than this job to base that on.

[bdh21]

Do you think he would have gotten this position at Florida, UConn, UCLA, Texas, Arizona, or Kansas? I dont think so!

It's all about connections and who you know. Of course, there are thousands of people who are more qualified and who would have killed for the position; however, they didn't marry K's daughter.

As for Spatola using this job to advance his career, it may be true; he may have seen K's daughter as his Willy Wonka Golden Ticket. However, I would have a lot more respect for him and take him more seriously if he had attempted to travel a path that wasn't paved by his father-in-law...

Remember, Duke's a private school, so this type of stuff happens all the time. Nothing shocking.

Hmm... That sounds just as ridiculous as...


Do you think he would have gotten this position at Florida, UConn, UCLA, Texas, Arizona, or Kansas? I dont think so!

It's all about connections and who you know. Of course, there are thousands of people who are more qualified and who would have killed for the position; however, they didn't play for coach K.

As for Nate James using this job to advance his career, it may be true; he may have seen Duke as his Willy Wonka Golden Ticket. However, I would have a lot more respect for him and take him more seriously if he had attempted to travel a path that wasn't paved by his former coach...

Remember, Duke's a private school, so this type of stuff happens all the time. Nothing shocking.

[ugadevil]

Hmm... That sounds just as ridiculous as...


Do you think he would have gotten this position at Florida, UConn, UCLA, Texas, Arizona, or Kansas? I dont think so!

It's all about connections and who you know. Of course, there are thousands of people who are more qualified and who would have killed for the position; however, they didn't play for coach K.

As for Nate James using this job to advance his career, it may be true; he may have seen Duke as his Willy Wonka Golden Ticket. However, I would have a lot more respect for him and take him more seriously if he had attempted to travel a path that wasn't paved by his former coach...

Remember, Duke's a private school, so this type of stuff happens all the time. Nothing shocking.

What about Johnny Dawkins! That scoundrel!

[bludev03]

Don't you think this is a little harsh? Of course connections played a role, but in what part of life is that not true? I needed to hire someone for a project I am in charge of and I hired a good friend of mine who I could trust.

Is your "good friend" your son-in-law? That's what I thought... Please elevate your thinking ability!

[bludev03]

Hmm... That sounds just as ridiculous as...


Do you think he would have gotten this position at Florida, UConn, UCLA, Texas, Arizona, or Kansas? I dont think so!

It's all about connections and who you know. Of course, there are thousands of people who are more qualified and who would have killed for the position; however, they didn't play for coach K.

As for Nate James using this job to advance his career, it may be true; he may have seen Duke as his Willy Wonka Golden Ticket. However, I would have a lot more respect for him and take him more seriously if he had attempted to travel a path that wasn't paved by his former coach...

Remember, Duke's a private school, so this type of stuff happens all the time. Nothing shocking.

That's so far in left field, it's beyond comprehension...

But on the Nate James coaching, does he have ANY coaching experience whatsoever??? I mean, high school, AAU, rec league, college, something! But then again, neither did Wojo nor Dawkins. Seems like the only requirement for being an assistant at Duke is being a former Duke player...

[bdh21]

Well, if you base it on their playing days at Army, Chris is a whole lot more qualified that Coach K. And they were both captains for 1 season.

[ugadevil]

That's so far in left field, it's beyond comprehension...

But on the Nate James coaching, does he have ANY coaching experience whatsoever??? I mean, high school, AAU, rec league, college, something! But then again, neither did Wojo nor Dawkins. Seems like the only requirement for being an assistant at Duke is being a former Duke player...

3 National Championships later, I guess those requirements have worked out okay.

[Inonehand]

That's so far in left field, it's beyond comprehension...

But on the Nate James coaching, does he have ANY coaching experience whatsoever??? I mean, high school, AAU, rec league, college, something! But then again, neither did Wojo nor Dawkins. Seems like the only requirement for being an assistant at Duke is being a former Duke player...

and doing a good job of getting under some skin on this board. If Coach K's hiring patterns didn't result in a high grade of success, I'd be right there with you. Since I am happy with his performance as the Duke coach, I will simply giggle.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Maybe Chris is being groomed as the back-up choice for successor to Coach K in the event that Dawkins fails in his stint as head coach at Stanford.

[ArnieMc]

I have no problem with this. If I needed business software/technical support, I would give the job to my son-in-law without hesitation. I know his character, ability and dedication. He would do an excellent job for a fair price (plus my discount). I'm sure that Coach K feels the same way about Chris. I think it would be far worse to give the job to someone in whom he has less confidence just to avoid the appearance of nepotism.

Mickie for AD!!!

[dukemomLA]

I consider you, with good reason, to be the incredible Voice of Reason on this site. (And THANK YOU again for posting).

I agree that the Duke culture is about 'family.' ...and not always just Coach K's.

Let's give the guy a break. The world will not end if this doesn't pan out. The world will not end if it does.

Sometimes I question choices (...we need a 'big man coach,' we need a sports psych, we need someone to get the free throws into the basket at least 80% of the time). BUT, despite our angst over not winning ANOTHER National Championship since 2001, let's get real. There is NO, NO, NO program with more integrity, or more chances, or affording us the glory of anticipation from Oct. to March.

Do we fall short sometimes? Absolutely. Do each of us "know" the reason why? Absolutely. But to have a team that year in and year out gives us HOPE (yes, legitimate hope) is remarkable and stunning. GO DEVILS!

[Cameron]

Do we fall short sometimes? Absolutely. Do each of us "know" the reason why? Absolutely. But to have a team that year in and year out gives us HOPE (yes, legitimate hope) is remarkable and stunning. GO DEVILS!

Well said, LA. I think you really hit home with your last sentiment. We do have a shot at a national championship almost each and every year. (2006-07 was just about the only season in the last 11 or 12 years that I truly did not have that feeling.) No other program in the nation has been able to say that with the same consistency as ours. And that is remarkable, but merely a glorious chapter in the unfathomable career story of our head coach, Michael Krzyzewski, who has built so much more than just continued success in Durham. Coach Krzyzewski has done it all the right way, with class, morals, and honor.

But, IMO, and in most general fans' opinions, continued success is the focal point behind college hoops fandom. It's what we live for. We all want to win, each and every season. We want to cut down the nets. Although this dream is far from a realistic happening, we still strive to be The Best year in and year out. And as Duke fans, we can. Unlike fans of other programs, we rarely see a true "down" year. Look at schools like Florida, North Carolina, UCLA, Indiana, Kentucky, UConn, etc. Those schools have all either missed the Dance or been seriously close to it in back to back seasons over the last decade. Hell, UK has really only had one or two teams even worthy of Final Four discussion over the last ten years alone, and UCLA, UNC, and UConn have spent March at home or in the NIT on multiple occassions since 2000.

But not at Duke. Coach K has made sure of that. We've held the standard of annual excellence in college basketball over the last 25 years; there is no question about that. We Are Duke, and we are going to come at you every single season with a shot at winning the whole prize. And that, in my eyes, is the definition of true success. I'm so glad to be apart of it.

[watzone]

That's so far in left field, it's beyond comprehension...

But on the Nate James coaching, does he have ANY coaching experience whatsoever??? I mean, high school, AAU, rec league, college, something! But then again, neither did Wojo nor Dawkins. Seems like the only requirement for being an assistant at Duke is being a former Duke player...

You continue to use words like comprehension and suggesting that others elevate their thoughts. Yet, you seemingly fail to realize how uninformed you are on pretty much everything you bring up. I hate to use the word "clueless," but is applies here. Your points aren't worth addressing any further. If others are coming from left field, you are well into foul territory and drifting futher with every peck at the keyboard

[grahamdevil]

This family hire guarantees coach will be with us at least 5 more years. Love it.

[devilirium]

Am glad to be a part of it as well...harping on one point. Duke needs to get back to that FF, though. It feels longer than 4 years, and we haven't been close.