Professionally and financially, it was the smart move to make.

Whether or not Dawkins eventually winds up as Duke's coach upon Mike Krzyzewski retirement, he deserves all due credit for taking the initiative.

At worst, Dawkins will flame out as a head coach and leave with a handsome settlement from the Stanford administration.

At best, he will win big enough to have leverage when the time comes for Duke to make the most important decision in the school's athletics history -- selecting its next men's basketball coach.

On that front, the timing to leave could not possibly have been better.

At 44, the former Blue Devils star likely will be in his early 50s when Krzyzewski retires. Krzyzewski, 61, hasn't spoken publicly about his future at the school, and there's no question that he's capable of leading the program for years to come.

But there's little about Krzyzewski to indicate he'll coach into his 70s. Other than taking on the NBA and winning an Olympics championship, he's accomplished all there is to do in his profession, and that Olympics title may be just a few months away. It's safe to assume that he wants to restore the Duke program to the status of a Final Four fixture and national-title contender, and that's certainly within his reach. Duke has slipped over the past two or three seasons, but a quick recovery is certainly possible.

Dawkins obviously has been Krzyzewski's favorite son for at least a decade. There's no reason to believe that Dawkins could not have maintained the status quo as first assistant and had the job handed to him -- ala Dean Smith to Bill Guthridge at North Carolina -- when the time comes.

That would have been a gamble for everyone, however. It worked out fine at Carolina, when Guthridge reached two Final Fours.

It just didn't work for long with the Tar Heels. Guthridge retired after three years, leaving the program short on talent by its standards and the school scrambling to fill the post when Roy Williams decided to remain at Kansas, initially.

Dawkins just needs to win regularly at Stanford in order to set his course. Krzyzewski's successor will be held to some of the highest standards in college basketball history. Krzyzewski has won national titles, recruited first-class players and graduated almost everyone.

It's entirely possible that Dawkins, given some success at Stanford, might not want to take on the pressure that will come with coaching at Duke in Krzyzewski's lingering shadow.

One way or the other, Dawkins will make his own mark in the job, just as Oklahoma's Jeff Capel, another Duke product, has done. It's also worth taking into account that Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, once a Duke aide, is beginning to emerge a winner.

Almost everything about Dawkins points to consistent winning. For years, he's had the best mentor out there. But there comes a time when most coaches have to make the transition from helping to leading. The time was right for Dawkins to make that jump.