Dawkins receives contract extension

Sept. 24, 2014, 8:50 p.m.

Stanford Athletics and athletic director Bernard Muir announced today that men’s basketball head coach Johnny Dawkins has received an extension on his contract with the university. According to Stanford policy, the exact specifications of the contract and the extension have not been released to the public.

“Johnny Dawkins is a phenomenal educator and tireless worker,” Muir said to GoStanford.com. “Our on-court success last year combined with ongoing academic accomplishments and the overall development of our student-athletes illustrates Johnny’s ability to lead this program into the future.”

Dawkins is entering his seventh season at Stanford, where he has spent the entirety of his head coaching career. During his tenure on the Farm, the Duke alumnus has led the team to a 117-87 overall record, including an NIT Championship in 2012.

Stanford men's basketball head coach Johnny Dawkins
Stanford men’s basketball head coach Johnny Dawkins has compiled a 117-87 record in six seasons as the head man for the Cardinal, but has a losing conference record (49-54) and has guided the team to the NCAA tournament only once. (MIKE KHIER/The Stanford Daily)

The news of Dawkins’ extension comes after a successful 2013-14 season in which he led the team to a share of third place in the tough Pac-12 and notched the first NCAA Tournament appearance of his Stanford tenure. In that tournament run, the Cardinal earned the N0. 10 seed and shocked the nation with consecutive upsets of No. 7 New Mexico and No. 2 Kansas to earn just the fifth Sweet 16 berth in program history. The Cardinal ultimately lost to another tournament Cinderella in No. 11 Dayton.

That deep postseason run was likely a direct contributing factor to Dawkins’ extension, as Muir had expressed the sentiment before the season that Dawkins would be fully expected to guide the team into March Madness after the 2012 NIT title had been the team’s only notable postseason accomplishment under Dawkins’ guidance to that point for the historically powerful Stanford men’s basketball program.

During the 2014-15 season, Dawkins will have the opportunity to work with another top-20 group of freshmen that he brought to the Farm, along with established team leaders in fifth-year senior center Stefan Nastic, senior guard Chasson Randle and fifth-year senior guard Anthony Brown, all of whom were key contributors in the Cardinal’s tournament run.

“I want to thank athletic director Bernard Muir and the Stanford community for outstanding support and allowing our staff to do what we love,” Dawkins said. “Being part of the Stanford family is special and there is no place I’d rather be. We are committed to enhancing Stanford’s reputation of excellence in the classroom and on the court.”

Dawkins and Stanford will open their 2014-15 season on Nov. 6 in a home exhibition against Cal Poly Pomona.

Contact Do-Hyoung Park at dpark027 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Do-Hyoung Park '16, M.S. '17 is the Minnesota Twins beat reporter at MLB.com, having somehow ensured that his endless hours sunk into The Daily became a shockingly viable career. He was previously the Chief Operating Officer and Business Manager at The Stanford Daily for FY17-18. He also covered Stanford football and baseball for five seasons as a student and served two terms as sports editor and four terms on the copy desk. He was also a color commentator for KZSU 90.1 FM's football broadcast team for the 2015-16 Rose Bowl season.

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