After a disastrous 1994-95 season, the men's basketball team finds itself facing strange questions.
Gone is the banter that normally surrounds a Blue Devil preseason.
Forgotten are the prognostications of potential Final Four match-ups.
Now the questions are not about if the team will win 12 or 14 games in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but rather can they win more than last year's total of two?
For the first time in nearly a decade, the Blue Devils must face the hard questions that result from a season-long exercise in futility.
"We have more question marks than we normally do," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I think that's easy to see. One of the exciting things about questions is do you have answers? Let's give these kids an opportunity to provide answers and, hopefully, they'll be good answers."
Krzyzewski's comments come after a season in which Duke lost more games than it had in a decade and after the team's first absence from the NCAA tournament since the 1982-83 season, Krzyzewski's third at the helm.
"I do think there are some things that we have to rebuild," Krzyzewski said. "You don't go through last year, record-wise or whatever, and not have your confidence shaken some. That's going to happen. It's strange that for nine years we had all the positives and to suddenly have the other extreme."
The Blue Devils lost 18 games last year, including a number of last-second self-destructions.
"Last year, I think once we lost a couple of games, it was like we kind of got used to it," junior guard Jeff Capel said. "That's something that we have to change. If not, and if we don't come to play every game this year, our season could be the same or even worse than last year."
Since the team's loss to Wake Forest in the ACC tournament, the program has witnessed several shake-ups, most notably two major coaching changes.
Former assistant coach Mike Brey stepped down on April 12 to accept the head coaching position at the University of Delaware. Pete Gaudet, who acted as head coach last year while Krzyzewski was sidelined with back problems, also removed himself from the coaching staff. Gaudet cited the NCAA salary cap on restricted-earnings coaches, not the Blue Devils' troubles on the court last year, as the motivation behind his retirement. Only assistant coach Tommy Amaker remains on Krzyzewski's staff from last season.
In June, Krzyzewski announced his replacements for Brey and Gaudet--coaches who had been the backbone of Duke's success over the past decade. Quin Snyder, a former player for Krzyzewski from 1986-89 and an administrative intern last season, was named an assistant on June 1. In the following week, Tim O'Toole was named to assume Gaudet's restricted-earnings position. O'Toole had served under Jim Boeheim at Syracuse for the past four seasons.
"I think [Snyder and O'Toole] are very good," Capel said. "They're really anxious to come in and help out any way that they can."
Aside from questions about the future of the new Blue Devil coaching staff, Krzyzewski must also deal with a host of other problems: a roster full of untested young players, a player on academic suspension and a massive void in the middle, created by the loss of last year's co-MVPs--Erik Meek and Cherokee Parks--to the NBA.
This summer, several of the younger players on the team are playing on the U.S. junior team. Sophomores Trajan Langdon and Steve Wojciechowski and incoming freshman Taymon Domzalski are playing in Greece on the junior team. Sophomore Ricky Price is currently competing in the U.S. Olympic Festival in Denver.
"I have confidence that they can be good players," Krzyzewski said. "We have to create a system that will use their skills wisely. I'm trying not to go into next season with any preconceived notions that OK, my perimeter has to be Jeff, Ricky and Trajan. I want to look at what they've done over the summer and see how we can best use their skills."
Some other Blue Devils, on the other hand, have spent their summers in Durham. Carmen Wallace and Tony Moore finished the first summer school semester, and Capel, Moore and Greg Newton are currently in the second semester of summer school.
"I feel like there's a good chance we're going to have everybody with us next year," Krzyzewski said. "Greg has to do well in his summer school session."
Newton, who was suspended in the spring for an academic violation, could prove to be a valuable member of the 1995-96 squad. With Meek and Parks lost to graduation, Newton is the natural successor to their post position. But whether he will be eligible to play next fall is still uncertain. He must pass both of his summer school courses in order to qualify for the fall semester.
"He's motivated and we're keeping daily contact with him," Krzyzewski said. ``I'd be very disappointed for him if it doesn't happen."
And with seldom-used Stan Brunson expected back in August from an injured ankle, the Blue Devils may be able to field a complete team. Last year, several players were limited by injury, including Price and senior Chris Collins.
"My main concern is that we have everybody back," Krzyzewski said. "If we have everybody back, we have the opportunity to become a good basketball team. If we become a good one, we might become a very good one. But we won't become a very good one unless we take the first step."
Yet the questions remain.
Who will fill the void left by Parks and Meek? Can this team go .500 in the conference? Will the return of Krzyzewski be enough to propel Duke back into the top 25?
"I don't think we started some of those Final Four years saying we're definitely going to be a regional championship team," Krzyzewski said. "But we can expect a 100% effort and a together effort every time we play."
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