Stanford fires Johnny Dawkins after 8 seasons

Stanford has fired head coach Johnny Dawkins after eight seasons with the Cardinal. His tenure included one trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, two NIT Championship titles and a total of five postseason appearances in eight years.

The Sweet Sixteen and NIT titles were the highlight of Dawkins’ time at Stanford, which concluded with a 15-15 (8-10) 9th place finish in the Pac-12 this season. The Cardinal never finished above third in the conference under Dawkins, which they did just once in 2014.

Before Dawkins arrived in 2008, the Cardinal had gone to the NCAA Tournament in 13 of the previous 14 seasons. Getting there just once in eight years was surely a deciding factor for Stanford in cutting Dawkins loose.

Dawkins came to Stanford in 2008 after spending ten seasons on the staff at alma mater, Duke, the last nine of which were as associate head coach to Mike Krzyzewksi. He was on the coaching staff for three Final Four appearances and one National Championship in 2001.

As a Blue Devil player, he led the team to a Final Four in 1986 and was named the Naismith Player of the Year that same season.