Jay Williams found himself torn.
Last month, Post columnist Ian O’Connor broke the news, in his biography of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, that Duke offered the job to succeed the legendary head coach to Harvard coach Tommy Amaker. However, O’Connor reported that Coach K called Amaker, a former player of his, on a Zoom call and talked him out of taking the job because he preferred another former player, Jon Scheyer, for the big job.
Williams, a former Duke great in his own right, spoke to The Post on behalf of his NPR podcast, “The Limits“, where he interviews big names one-on-one.
“I think both things can be true at the same time,” Williams said, discussing the brouhaha involving Coach K, Amaker and Scheyer.
“I’ve known Tommy Amaker for a very long time. He recruited me when he was at Seton Hall. He recruited me underneath Coach K,” Williams said. “There was a part of me that wished Duke had a black head coach in Tommy Amaker. I think he epitomizes what the university stands for.”
However, Williams is also excited about Scheyer.
“In the same breath, I’ve called Jon Scheyer a young Brad Stevens,” he said. “I’ve seen the way that Jon and Noah Smith have been able to recruit, and really transition Duke into a younger phase. There’s relevancy in that. I was really happy for Jon, too.
“I guess it’s very similar to life. You go into it thinking one way, and then a curve ball gets thrown to you, but at the end of the day I respect Coach K and his decision, and that Jon is going to be great as head coach at Duke University.”
Williams was at Coach K’s home finale at Cameron Indoor this past weekend, and while the result — a double-digit loss to heated rival North Carolina — was far from ideal, he had a great experience at the event.
“The weekend was incredible,” he said. “I got the chance to spend it with people like Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, J.J. Redick, Trajan Langdon, Elton Brand — guys that I’ve known for a long time. There were so many cool people in the stands. Adam Silver was there with Jerry Seinfeld.
“I kind of look at the rivalry as an incredible opportunity. It’s your rival. You can throw all these damn records out the window. Secondly, the way I’ve always heard Coach K talk about it, it’s not about winning or losing the game, it’s how you pick yourself back up. It’s who you’re going to be after you go through an unfortunate time. For him and his team on senior night, that was an unfortunate moment, but how they pick themselves up in the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament, that’s the true sign of a warrior — and that’s who I know they’re going to be.”
As for his Mount Rushmore of dream guests on his NPR podcast, Williams had an interesting spectrum.
“Obviously Barack Obama would be on that list,” he said. “His vision of leadership is so impressive, especially from an African-American perspective, because there are times when I have to speak publicly about issues there’s a weight that feels like you’re speaking for all African-Americans, even though you’re not,” Williams said. “You’re only speaking from your personal perspective. But there’s still a weight that comes along with that responsibility and I wonder how he had to navigate that as president of the United States.
“Ellen Degeneres, from knowing her through friends in Los Angeles for so long, about how she’s had to navigate some challenging times in her life, but also the brand that she’s been able to build. I have Spike Lee coming up soon. I don’t know if I really have a Mount Rushmore. It’s more about people that we deem as ‘successful’ but being able to break down those barriers, and for us to see them as people — as human beings that still go through ebbs and flows of life and challenges. I think that’s the main premise — in order to do anything great, you still have to push yourself past barriers, so how do you do that?”