AP source: Marquette hires Duke's 'Wojo' as coach
Marquette has hired Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski as its next men's basketball coach, said a person familiar with the situation.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because Marquette had not yet announced Wojciechowski's hiring.
Marquette scheduled a news conference for 3 p.m. EDT to introduce its new coach.
The 37-year-old Wojciechowski takes over for Buzz Williams, who left for Virginia Tech last month. He led Marquette to a 139-69 record and five NCAA tournament appearances in six seasons but missed the tournament this year.
Wojciechowski becomes the second Mike Krzyzewski assistant in two years to land a head coaching job at a program in a major conference. Chris Collins left last spring for Northwestern.
Interim Marquette athletic director Bill Cords had said he wanted to move as quickly as possible to find Williams' replacement.
The Golden Eagles, picked to win the reconfigured Big East this season, finished sixth in the 10-team league with a 17-15 record and had their eight-year run of NCAA tournament appearances snapped.
They're hoping Wojciechowski can get them back there.
He was a star guard for Krzyzewski's Duke teams from 1994-98 who was known for slapping the floor when the Blue Devils needed a big defensive stop. Wojciechowski has been on Duke's staff since 1999, was promoted to associate head coach in 2008 and has worked primarily with the post players during his 15 seasons on the staff.
Though Wojciechowski has never been a head coach at any level, Krzyzewski has long said he considers him a head coach. When the Hall of Fame coach felt dizzy and light-headed during in a loss at Wake Forest last month, Wojciechowski filled in for him at his postgame news conference.
Wojciechowski was selected as the national defensive player of the year in 1998 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. During the final three years of his playing career at Duke, the Blue Devils were 74-26.
It's been a big past few weeks for those in Krzyzewski's coaching tree: Stanford's Johnny Dawkins reached the NCAA tournament for the first time as a head coach and Tommy Amaker's Harvard team upset Cincinnati in its tournament opener.
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