Two decades after leading Duke to its first national title and 19 years after hitting the most famous shot in college basketball history, Christian Laettner wants back in the game as a coach.
That's why you'll find one of college basketball's most famous villains in Houston the next couple days during Final Four weekend. Between celebrity appearances and interviews about "The Shot," he's hoping to schmooze with other coaches and inquire about a gig as a Division I assistant coach.
"I'm ready to start meeting people and networking and I'm available if they're interested in taking a chance on me," Laettner said this week.
There are two big obstacles that could make Laettner's dream a difficult one to achieve: His lack of coaching experience and his cocky image.
"I am a little worried about [my image], but I'm hoping that they'll realize that you can't go off image and perception all the time," Laettner said. "You've got to go by one-to-one interaction with people."
The obvious option would be a return to Durham under Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, but Coach K's bench is already full of former Duke players.
Laettner also has connections to Notre Dame's Mike Brey and Harvard's Tommy Amaker, both Blue Devil assistants when Laettner played. And to Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins, who graduated just two years before Laettner arrived on campus.
He might even get an assist from his old college point guard, Bobby Hurley, who just finished his first season as an assistant coach for his younger brother, Dan, at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y.
One thing's for sure: Laettner's already dreaming big.
"Well, the ultimate goal is to get a big-time head college coaching job," Laettner said. "If nothing happens in the college ranks, I've got to go to the NBA pre-draft camp this year in Chicago and let the people in the NBA know that I'm ready to be an assistant coach."
Since last playing in the NBA in 2005, Laettner, 41, has spent his retirement fishing and being a self-professed "soccer dad" for his three kids. He lives outside Jacksonville, in Ponte Vedra Beach, because his wife "loved the Florida weather and I always wanted to live on the ocean."
Laettner has dabbled in numerous ventures, from attempting to buy the Memphis Grizzlies with former Duke teammate Brian Davis in 2006, to owning part of a Major League Soccer franchise, to partnering with Davis in a real estate business known as Blue Devil Ventures.
But with the economic downturn, Blue Devil Ventures has fallen on hard times. It was recently in the news when current NFL player Shawne Merriman was reportedly awarded nearly $4 million in a lawsuit after Laettner and Davis defaulted on a $3 million loan that Merriman gave them in 2007.
"Especially with the NFL lockout on the horizon, some of my partners and some people that have invested in me over the years, they really want to make sure they get their money back," Laettner said. "And I'm trying to do all those things, I'm trying to take care of all the debts I owe. We are getting through it."
Despite all these endeavors, Laettner said he felt like something was missing from his life.
What else? Basketball.
So about nine months ago he started the Christian Laettner Basketball Academy that trains kids 14 and older about the game. In classic Laettner fashion, he has this message for interested customers on his website:
"I offer discounts to all players, teams and coaches who hail from the states of Kentucky, North Carolina and Connecticut. This comes from the compassion and generosity of my heart and soul for causing you all so much pain, agony and hate over my four year career at Duke!!"
Yes, almost two decades after his last college game, one of the most hated college basketball players ever is still finding a way to get under the skin of college basketball fans.
Some of the hatred was because many viewed him as the classic overhyped Duke player, much like more recent Blue Devils Steve Wojciechowski and J.J. Redick. And another part of it was Laettner's own doing, as he became a lightning rod for criticism as a result of dirty play, trash talking and perceived arrogance.
It all came to a head his senior year during the 1992 Elite Eight game against Kentucky when Laettner received a technical foul for stomping on the chest of Kentucky's Aminu Timberlake in the second half. The incident permanently stained Laettner's reputation, but it might have been the only mistake he made all day.
He went 10 for 10 from the free-throw line and 10 for 10 from the field, including his legendary buzzer-beating turnaround jumper to win the greatest game in college basketball history, 104-103, and propel Duke to back-to-back national titles.
