Duke announces another change to its men’s basketball coaching staff

An offseason of current and pending changes to Duke’s basketball staff continued Tuesday.

Duke announced Chris Carrawell, an assistant coach on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff since 2018, is being promoted to associate head coach.

The move comes two weeks after Krzyzewski announced the upcoming season will be his last as Duke’s head coach and associate head coach Jon Scheyer will become the Blue Devils’ head coach in April 2022.

“This is incredible,” Carrawell said in a statement. “For coach to have that trust in me, especially in his last year, is an honor and privilege. It is the equivalent of being named a captain my senior year because Coach doesn’t just hand these things out — I’ve had to earn it and work for it. I’m grateful for the opportunity and look forward to being alongside this great coaching staff again this season.”

Carrawell, 43, the 2000 ACC Player of the Year during his senior season when he captained the Blue Devils, joined Duke’s coaching staff in 2018 following four seasons as an assistant coach at Marquette. Over the past three seasons, Scheyer and Nate James held the associate head coach titles while Carrawell was an assistant coach.

In April, James left Duke to become head coach at Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tennessee. Krzyzewski filled James’ slot on the coaching staff by promoting Nolan Smith from special assistant to a full assistant coach who is allowed to recruit and work with players on the court.

Now, during the upcoming season as Krzyzewski completes his 42-year career at Duke, Scheyer and Carrawell will be associate head coaches while Smith is an assistant coach.

“We are thrilled to promote Chris to associate head coach,” Krzyzewski said in a statement. “He has absolutely deserved this opportunity since coming back to Duke on our coaching staff in 2018. Chris’ passion and love for the game, and for the betterment of our players and program, is clearly evident every day. As good of a player as he was for us, Chris is an even better teacher of the game and mentor to the young men in our program. He is well on his way to becoming a head coach very soon and we’re so lucky to have him.”