Johnny Dawkins is almost three weeks into his tenure as the head coach at Stanford, after spending the last 11 seasons as an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, including the last nine as the associate head coach of the Blue Devils.

At Dawkins' introductory press conference at Stanford, athletic director Bob Bowlsby said that Krzyzewski had described Dawkins as his "likely successor" with the Blue Devils during conversations leading up to Dawkins' hiring with the Cardinal.

Below is Part Two of the conversation in which Dawkins caught up with ACC Sports Journal editor David Glenn:

DG: Bob Bowlsby recently joined a long list of people who have referred to you as Coach K's "likely successor" at Duke. Did you decide to take on a head coaching challenge with that in mind, to solidify your candidacy for the Duke job some day?

Dawkins: I know that a lot of people have speculated about me being the next guy (at Duke), but no one can predict the future. Who will succeed Coach K? Nobody knows. I didn't look at this as a step to take the Duke job.

DG: Do you believe that you would have been a viable candidate for the Duke job without any head coaching experience on your resume?

Dawkins: I never really looked at it that way. I never really looked at it as, when and if that day will occur, I would need a certain amount of experience. I've heard that before. I've heard a lot of different things. But (taking the Stanford job) mainly was about getting outside of my comfort zone, going into another arena, and then seeing what I can do with regard to growing as a coach in this position.

It's different (as a head coach). You move 18 inches over (on the bench), and you're no longer making suggestions, you're making decisions. It's a challenge, but it's something that I look forward to. It's something Coach K prepared me to do. That's where it went. It had nothing to do with leaving early, to go get head coaching experience, so I would have an opportunity maybe to be more qualified for the Duke position. (Laughs.)

My thing is, my theory with Coach, is that he should coach for as long as he can. He has a good decade run in him, at least, and I'm hoping that he takes all of it. He's been great. He's been great for the game. That's how I see it.

DG: You have a diverse background in basketball — first as a player under Coach K, then under a lot of coaches as a player in the NBA, and most recently back with the Blue Devils as an assistant coach. During that time, did you mentally take a lot of notes, sort of a "Future Head Coach's Handbook," and build a profile on how you would run your own program when that day came along?

Dawkins: I won't say I kept a little handbook, but you keep a few mental notes on what you would like to do. The main thing, and Coach (Krzyzewski) said it best when I was looking at this opportunity and it looked like I may end up getting the position, he said: "Remember just to be yourself."

That's the main thing you have to take away from these experiences as a coach. I've worked for and played for some of the greatest coaches in this game, of course with Coach (Krzyzewski) being the most notable one, and I'm going to take the lessons I've learned and try to apply them in my way. I can't do it the same way he did it, and he didn't do it the exact same way as Coach Knight did it. So you just have to try to find your way through it and make it work for yourself, make it work for your program.

DG: I know these things come up in recruiting a lot, with the prospects and their high school coaches and their families. What would be two or three of those bedrock principles that you're going to adopt from Duke but also add your own Johnny Dawkins spin to them?

Dawkins: I just believe in Coach's philosophy about the fist and what it represents, how we're a lot stronger together than we are as individuals. We're also going to do the things that are important to Duke and are important to Stanford.

One of them is integrity. This program has had that, it has always had it, and that's not going to change. We're going to trust one another. We're always going to be able to look each other in the eye and know that we're telling each other the truth. And the third one is we're gonna compete our butts off. This place has competed in every sport, in everything possible athletically and academically, and we're going to continue that tradition here.

So if I had to say three things we're going to build our foundation on, it would be those. We'll add to it as we go, but if we can just have that as a foundation, I think we'll have a chance to be very, very successful.

DG: You mentioned the "be yourself" advice from Coach K. What kind of advice did he give you over the years about things like picking the right job and looking for the right timing when it comes to career decisions?

Dawkins: Well, he's always been a great mentor to me. We've talked basketball. Mainly, though, my experiences at Duke and me being with that program, we never got far beyond me being there. That was helpful for me. It made things very comfortable for my family and my lifestyle in Durham. We didn't talk too much about other positions, or what would be a place that I would go to, and all of those things.

He always knew, probably, that at some point in time (Dawkins leaving for a head coaching position) may happen. You just never know, timing-wise, when it will occur. He just tries to prepare you by how he works with you every day, how he coaches you. It's not just the players, he's coaching the assistant coaches as well, on what they need to expect, what they need to be able to do when they are in this type of position. I've been fortunate to have him as a mentor for all these years, and I think he's prepared me very well for this opportunity.

DG: Just about every college football or college basketball coach I've ever met says that the way a university approaches academics has a big impact on his job description. You're going from a place in Duke that has high academic standards to a place in Stanford that has the most difficult academic standards of any school in the six major conferences. Why did that academic factor not scare you away from the Stanford job?

Dawkins: Because it's very similar to where I come from. We have great academic standards at Duke, and of course Stanford has tremendous academic standards as well. The profile, for me, is very similar.

And I embrace that. I think it's important that you have a balance and be not just a terrific athlete but a terrific student as well. That balance, in the type of kids we recruit, is exciting. They understand that there's a big world out there, a bigger picture than just playing a sport or just spending all of your time in a classroom. So I'm looking for kids who want that balance, who want to be great at both, and I think there are enough of those kids out there that we can be successful.

DG: It doesn't sound like you've had much down time, so maybe you haven't even had a chance to contemplate these things, but what have you missed most about Duke or Durham or the Triangle since you left a few weeks ago?

Dawkins: I miss everything — about Duke university, about the surrounding areas. You have to remember, that was home to me, and for a lot of years. And that's not just for my 11 years on staff, that was my permanent residence for the most part since 1982. (Laughs.)

So we're talking about 26 years of developing relationships and being entrenched in the community. So I'm going to miss everyone there. I will be able to get back and visit friends and family, and spend time with them. It'll just be different. I'll be coaching at a different university. But my feelings and my love toward the university and for the people there have never wavered and will never change.