CHICAGO DD Everybody knew that the men's basketball team's three freshmen were good.
But this good? This early in the season?
In Duke's 70-65 win over Illinois at the United Center, freshmen Steve Wojciechowski, Trajan Langdon and Ricky Price combined for 36 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski started both Wojciechowski and Price, while Langdon also saw considerable action. Each scored at least nine points, and despite the noisy, pro-Illinois crowd of 21,500 at the United Center, none of the three played like a freshman in the team's first game in front of a hostile crowd.
"They're exceptional kids, and I think they get strength from our upper class," Krzyzewski said. "Our upper class has been unbelievable with them."
Price, Wojciechowski and Langdon each took turns making a major impact on the game.
First, it was Price keeping Duke in the game in the first half. While the rest of the team was struggling with Illinois' tight defense, the athletic 6-6 swingman was driving to the basket and creating instant offense. He hit from both the inside and outside, finishing the half with 11 of Duke's 30 points.
"They were packing it in down low on Chief [Cherokee Parks] and Erik [Meek]," Price said. "We had to find points somewhere, and I needed to step up and score."
Then, early in the second half, it was Wojciechowski's turn. He said that he was unhappy with his first half play and wanted to make an impact in the second half -- positive or negative.
Hitting three trifectas in the first five minutes of the half definitely qualified as positive. But beyond that, Wojciechowski displayed confidence and intensity at point guard slot. He played 23 minutes -- 17 in the second half -- and notched five assists while only turning the ball over once.
Finally, there was Langdon. He came into the game struggling, having hit only five of the first 20 shots of his college career. But on Saturday, after a quiet first half, Langdon took his first shot of the game -- a 17-footer with 11:13 to go -- and he nailed it.
From there, the Alaska native hit two straight threes and a pair of free throws to put Duke up 54-46. For those three minutes he took over the game and scored 10 straight Blue Devil points.
"The neat thing when Langdon did hit a shot is he wanted to shoot it again and again -- and his teammates wanted him to, also," Krzyzewski said. "I think that shows what he's been doing in practice up until the last week and a half. He's been in a little bit of a slump [recently]. I think some of it has to do with [the fact that] he has the hardest academic schedule of anyone on our team."
But Langdon wasn't done. With 1:10 to go and Duke trailing 65-64, he stepped up to the foul line and calmly swished a pair of free throws. Then, with 21 seconds to go, Langdon drew a double team and dished the ball to forward Greg Newton, who hit a layup to give Duke a 68-65 lead.
"The first shot was a big shot for me," Langdon said. "My teammates did a great job getting me the ball."
It is remarkable that all three freshmen have come to Duke and immediately fit right into the system. True, all three were McDonald's All-Americans and rated among the top high-schoolers in the country.
But it is rare that three freshmen enter a top Division I program and make such an impact. The "Fab Five" did it at Michigan, but they had no choice -- there was little talent on that team outside of the freshmen.
The Blue Devils are built around Parks, and he has a solid upperclass supporting cast. But -- outwardly at least -- there has been no animosity towards the newcomers, no dissatisfaction at the playing time they're receiving.
And that has made their transition to college basketball that much easier.
"They're part of the group," Krzyzewski said. "I think if you asked any one of the three, they'd say they feel so accepted. And we've tried to show confidence in them."
"The older guys have really accepted us and helped us along the way," Wojciechowski said. "In most programs, I think there would maybe be some jealousy or whatever with three freshmen coming in and playing substantial time.
"On this team, it just shows how close we are."
The fact is, the upperclassmen know that the team needs the youngsters to mature quickly.
"I think you saw today that [the freshmen] are not afraid to come in there and do the job," said sophomore guard Chris Collins, who saw his first action of the year on Saturday. "That's going to help our team."
With Duke's brutal early-season schedule, the newcomers are being forced to mature quickly. Certainly, there will be more mistakes and inexperienced plays before the season's over.
But on Saturday, the Duke freshman class played like a veteran bunch.
"For Trajan and Wojo and Ricky to play the way they did, I think that's incredible," sophomore guard Jeff Capel said. "All three made some unbelievably big shots and big plays for us."
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