PITTSBURGH—First $106.36 at LongHorn Steakhouse, and now Chipotlegate.
It’s clear: Duke has a restaurant problem.
In February, Yahoo! Sports reported that Wendell Carter Jr.’s mother allegedly had lunch at LongHorn Steakhouse with Christian Dawkins, a business associate of disgraced agent Andy Miller, according to Dawkins’ expense reports. Now, Chipotle in Pittsburgh is at the center of the latest restaurant-related “controversy” to rock the Blue Devils.
Set to take on Duke Saturday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Rhode Island guard Stanford Robinson doesn’t think the Blue Devils know who his team is, citing sources at Chipotle.
“I don't think they really watched us,” Robinson said. “Someone told me they seen them in Chipotle yesterday or two days ago, and they asked them about Rhode Island, and they said they didn't know who we were.”
No Duke players The Chronicle spoke with following this comment recalled going to Chipotle in Pittsburgh, and no one knew anyone on the team who did. The Blue Devils played Rhode Island Nov. 20, 2016, in Uncasville, Conn., winning 75-65 with Grayson Allen scoring 11 points. Allen remembered playing Rhode Island even right after beating Iona Thursday and was probably unlikely to be at Chipotle after calling its queso "underwhelming" at ACC media day in October.
“They're very experienced and their guards are very tough. We played against them last year, and I remember that game, their guards were very tough,” Allen said at the postgame press conference. “They go at you both offensively and defensively, and they're a very experienced team. They have a pretty good amount of guys back from that team that I played, so it will be a very tough matchup because of how experienced they are and because they are a team that wins.”
As for the freshmen on the team who did not take on the now-No. 7 seed Rams last year, Wendell Carter Jr., Marvin Bagley III and Alex O’Connell all scoffed at the notion that they didn’t know who Rhode Island is.
“Of course we know who Rhode Island is. They’re our next game,” O’Connell said. “We watched film on them, we’re getting ready to play a good Rhode Island team.”
“Yeah, I do know who Rhode Island is,” Bagley added. “They’re a great team, a veteran team. It’s going to be a great game tomorrow and they’re going to be ready to play.”
"They’re a veteran team that just won a great game yesterday. I’m very well aware of who Rhode Island is," Carter said.
O’Connell didn’t dismiss the possibility that Rhode Island was trying to manufacture motivation for Saturday’s game.
“Maybe that’s something they can do for themselves as a team,” O’Connell said. “It’s up to them how they prepare for their game. If that’s something they need to do, they can do it.”
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.