In a formal press conference earlier today, Stanford University announced that they were hiring former Philadelphia 76er and current Duke associate head coach Johnny Dawkins to coach the California school’s men’s basketball team. Dawkins is a former Blue Devil star, setting the school record for most career points. He held that record until J.J. Redick broke it in 2006. He is a member of the Duke Sports Hall of Fame and has had his number 24 jersey retired.

“In my 28 years at Duke, no one did more to build our program as a player, coach or a person than Johnny Dawkins,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement. “He is as responsible as anyone for the success we’ve had for more than two decades.”

Dawkins beat out two other candidates for the position, Stanford assistant and former Idaho State head coach Doug Oliver and current Portland head coach Eric Reveno. During his nine years under Coach K, Dawkins, as lead assistant for player development, saw four National Players of the Year, a national championship, six ACC regular season titles and seven ACC Tournament crowns.

Dawkins was drafted in 1986 by the San Antonio Spurs and played for the Sixers from 1989-1994. Over his career, he averaged 11.1 points and 5.5 assists per game.

One of my most memorable moments as a kid was the night I showed up to a Sixers game early and stood outside the Spectrum with my dad waiting for the players to arrive. In that one night I got the autographs of Dawkins, Hersey Hawkins, and my then and current favorite basketball player Sir Charles Barkley. I remember Dawkins being very kind and happy to give his John Hancock to a young fan, as were Hawkins and Chuck. I look back with fondness on those Sixers teams, not because they were good, because they weren’t, but because they were the team that made me love sports and Philadelphia. I still remember players like Dave Hoppen, Armen Gilliam, Charles Shackelford, Shawn Bradley, Tim Perry, Andrew Lang, Jeff Hornacek, and Manute Bol.

Dawkins was always one of my favorite players and I think I speak for all of us here at Hot Stove in wishing him well and the best of luck.