CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Quin Snyder can’t come back to the Tar Heel State — he might call it the Blue Devils State — without taking a fun trip down memory lane.
“I love North Carolina. I spent most of my adult life here up until the time I left for Missouri,” Snyder said. “I was in Durham for 12 years. It’s a special place. It’s a great state.”
Snyder crossed the country to attend Duke University, leaving his home of Mercer Island, Washington, to play for the Blue Devils and coach Mike Krzyzewski in 1985.
The point guard spent the next four years at Duke and went to three Final Fours while there. After finishing his collegiate career, Snyder spent one season under Larry Brown as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers before returning to sweet Carolina.
Snyder spent the next six seasons as an assistant at Duke before leaving for good to take the position at Missouri. He’s returned to North Carolina many times during his various gigs in the NBA, but this is his first time back as a head coach.
“I’m as excited to be in Utah as I first was when I first got here (in North Carolina),” he said. “But I spent a lot of time here. It’s nostalgic.”
Snyder said he gave his tickets away to Jazz strength and conditioning coach Mark McKown, who’s from Gaffney, South Carolina. He said he was too busy watching game tape in his hotel room to socialize much anyway.
“It’s work,” he said. “We’re not on a vacation.”
While in a nostalgic mood, however, Snyder reminisced about one of his favorite (of many) memories of Krzyzewski.
During his senior year at Mercer Island High, where he was a McDonald’s All-American and two-time Washington player of the year, Snyder received an in-house visit from the Duke coach.
Krzyzewski entered the Snyder household with an old reel-to-reel film projector that he’d brought with him on the recruiting trail.
“He‘s always watched a lot of film. That’s been something he’s done forever,” Snyder said. “When I was coaching, we watched the game right after that night so we’d be ready to go the next day.”
It was on that fall night in Washington when Snyder first learned about Coach K’s viewing obsession.
“He was like splicing tape. He was like Spielberg or something,” Snyder said, chuckling. “He made sure we had a space on the wall and he pulled up the film.”
Snyder then made the sound of the projector rolling, “Chh, chh, chh … ”
“He showed me Johnny Dawkins,” Snyder said. “I was never quite Johnny Dawkins, but I liked the comparison.” Decades later, Snyder remains impressed by his mentor’s dedication and passion to haul around a clunky projector to try to impress high school kids and their parents.
“That tells you a little bit about who he is. He’s something unique,” Snyder said. “I feel strongly about him.”
This was also a near-homecoming of sorts for former Duke standout Rodney Hood. He played for the Blue Devils the past two seasons before being drafted 23rd overall by the Jazz in June.
"It feels great," the rookie said, adding that he saw a bunch of people in Duke jerseys around the team hotel in downtown Charlotte. "It brings back a lot of memories."
Hood said he talked with Krzyzewski a couple of weeks ago.
"Just checking up on each other," Hood said. "It's just a good relationship that will continue to last."
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