Duke Blue Devils: Potential Candidates to Eventually Replace Mike Krzyzewski

Quin Snyder (Utah Jazz)

Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

Remember this guy?

After serving as a Duke assistant, Quin Snyder became the golden boy of college basketball coaches while leading a scrappy group of misfits at Missouri. Snyder had a penchant for manufacturing upsets over rivals like Kansas and Illinois, and he even made the Elite Eight during his time at the school. At one point in his young career, Snyder was probably a clear front-runner to come back to Duke as the next head coach — and then Ricky Clemons happened.

Clemons was a very talented guard that played for Snyder at Mizzou. However, he would eventually be known as the person that sent the program into a tailspin. Snyder found himself embroiled in scandal when Clemons became the impetus of an investigation that led to Missouri being hit with three years of probation. Snyder never recovered at the school, eventually resigning mid-season in an embarrassing fashion.

After the humbling departure from Missouri, Synder toiled in the D-League as the head coach of the Austin Toros. His impact in the results column coupled with his additional achievements in player development allowed him to rehabilitate his image as the next big thing in coaching. At this point, Snyder’s messy exit at Mizzou is a thing of the past, but his prodigious coaching talents are as sharp as ever.

After a few stints as an assistant coach in the pros, Snyder was named the head coach of the Utah Jazz. He’s know been given the reigns of one of the more talented young teams in the league. If Snyder continues to work his magic with young players in Utah, a return to the college ranks could be a possibility. There aren’t too many jobs in college basketball that can lure an NBA head coach down a level, but Duke University is definitely one of them.