Quin Snyder Adds Duke Basketball Champ to Hawks Staff

When Duke basketball product Quin Snyder became head coach of the Atlanta Hawks in late February, it was assumed he would begin constructing a new staff shortly after the season ended. And it's no surprise that he would seek out other former Blue Devils.

Now, a month into his first offseason in Atlanta following the Hawks' loss to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, Snyder is adding fellow Duke basketball alum Antonio Lang as a lead assistant coach, HoopsHype's Michael Scotto reported on Friday.

Snyder, a former four-year Duke point guard (1985-89) who was an administrative assistant under Mike Krzyzewski during Lang's senior season as a Blue Devil (1993-94), had Lang on his Utah Jazz staff across his first five years in Salt Lake City (2014-19). Then Lang joined the Cleveland Cavaliers staff, remaining there through this season.

This will be the first time the 50-year-old Lang has been a lead assistant.

As a freshman and sophomore at Duke, Antonio Lang averaged double-digit minutes on back-to-back national championship teams.

Then the 6-foot-8 forward emerged as a full-time starter across his final two seasons in Durham. He was the 1993-94 Blue Devils' third-leading scorer, behind Grant Hill and Cherokee Parks, on his way to a third Final Four appearance.

The Phoenix Suns selected Lang with the 29th overall pick (second in the second round) at the 1994 NBA Draft. He lasted six years in the league as a journeyman, playing for the Suns, Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, and Philadelphia 76ers.

December 28, 1996: Cleveland’s Antonio Lang dunks on Dennis Rodman of Chicago (Bob Sura with the assist).

Bulls 102, Cavaliers 97. pic.twitter.com/3M421Ey71q
— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) December 28, 2022

Lang could play a key role in helping to develop two recent Duke basketball one-and-done forwards on the Hawks roster: Jalen Johnson and AJ Griffin.

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