NU HIRES COLLINS
Coach K assistant expected to sign seven-year contract
Northwestern made Chris Collins its new coach Wednesday.
The Duke associate head coach and former Glenbrook North standout met Northwestern president Morty Schapiro on Wednesday night in the Chicago area, according to a source, before returning to Indianapolis late Wednesday night, where the Blue Devils will play Michigan State in a Midwest Regional semifinal Friday night. Another source said Collins is expected to sign a seven-year contract.
“I’m so grateful . . . for the opportunity to lead the men’s basketball program at one of the premier universities in the world, to compete in the Big Ten and to do so in my hometown,” Collins said. “Northwestern University is a special place that strives for excellence in every regard, and our program will be no different. I can’t possibly thank coach [Mike] Krzyzewski and Duke enough for preparing me for this day.”
Collins, 38, has never been a head coach but has been mentored by his father, Doug, a former NBA All-Star and the current 76ers coach, and Krzyzewski, who has coached Duke to four NCAA titles and 11 Final Fours in 33 years.
He’s leaving one of the most successful programs in the nation for one of the least accomplished. Northwestern has not earned an NCAA tournament bid in 75 years. High entrance requirements, outdated facilities and a lack of tradition are among the reasons why 11 previous NU coaches had losing career records.
Duke forward Mason Plumlee had high praise for Collins.
“First of all, I think that’s a great, great fit for him,” Plumlee said. “I’m not a coach myself, but knowing coach Collins, he knows that area well. He’s got all the players’ respect. After my first practice here, I was like, ‘This guy knows what he’s doing and what he’s talking about.’ He has had the experience and has been around great coaches all his life. He’s going to fit into that mode very well.”
The injury-depleted Wildcats finished 13-19 after losing one key starter to an academic suspension before the season began and two others to season-ending injuries. Many thought the suspension and injuries would be viewed as out of former coach Bill Carmody’s control and he’d be allowed to coach the final year of his contract, but athletic director Jim Phillips announced the program needed a new direction at an emotional news conference March 16.
Carmody had a 192-210 record, the best in school history, in 13 seasons.
Critics of the hire cite Collins’ lack of head-coaching experience and the mostly mediocre results produced by other Krzyzewski assistants who have become head coaches.
“They’ll get a great one,” Krzyzewski said when asked what kind of coach NU would be getting. “He has been a great coach here. I’ve said that at news conferences in the NCAA tournament. I’ve said it at news conferences at the Olympics and at the World Championships in Istanbul. My guys are terrific.
‘‘He’s been with me for over a decade, and he has been terrific. Not good. He’s got a great basketball mind, competitive personality, a team guy, a great guy. But he’s a great basketball guy, too. Anybody who would get one of my guys would be getting something pretty special.”