Same journey, 2 different paths

In a season where so much went right, it was sometimes easy to ignore what went wrong. As Gail Goestenkors and her Blue Devils pushed their way into the uncharted ground of the NCAA Elite Eight, it was tough to find many fingers of accusation pointed at Duke.

But there were definitely two, and they were pointed right back at themselves.

For Michele VanGorp and Payton Black, the 1997-98 season wasn't all about record-setting performances and new standards in Duke basketball. It was about disappointments, frustrations and conflicting emotions. As the team kept winning, the cheers got louder and the expectations higher, and more and more, Black and VanGorp felt like they were looking in from the outside.

"Last year sucked for me pretty much," the 6-foot-6 VanGorp said bluntly. "I've never had a season like that in my whole entire life. It was very difficult to deal with."

But not that long ago, it was a different story altogether. In 1996 little seemed to be separating the pair from collegiate stardom. VanGorp, then a Purdue sophomore, turned around a shaky freshman campaign, winning the team's Most Improved Player Award. As the starting center of a program on the brink of national recognition, VanGorp was poised to lead the Boilermakers into uncharted ground.

Meanwhile in Durham, then-freshman Payton Black stormed onto the ACC scene, working her way into the starting lineup and picking up Rookie of the Week honors four times. With her unique offensive style, described by a teammate as "like Gumby," Black put her name on almost every Duke freshman record, and more importantly, put her name on the title of the future of Duke women's basketball.

But now, 1996 seems a long way off.

"By the end of my sophomore season, I'd had a really great season," VanGorp said. "I was coming right along as a college player, then I had my year off and I came back and I had my head below the water. It was less than what I expected. For me it sucked. And I won't have another season like that, I won't allow it."

"When she came back [during this summer], I saw the most improvement in her dedication to the game and to get better. We all realize that was our Achilles' heel last year in many games; I feel like they're ready to step up."

With a change in hair color and a change in the low-post coach, the even-more-blonde VanGorp, who scored 23 points in her first exhibition contest this season, is expecting an equally noticeable change in her stat lines, due largely to an improved mental focus.

"I've been working primarily on my mental game, but I also have tried to improve footwork," she said. "I'm just trying to move my feet more in the post. Last year I tended to just stand there and hold my ground."

While this year may be a season of redemption for VanGorp, for her low-post mate it will be a season of lowered expectations. Caught up in the whirlwind of predictions and pressures, Black the player found herself with little chance of ever living up to Black the myth. As she gradually became the focal point of the Duke offense, Black found the hype too heavy of a burden.

"I think [the pressure] was a big difference," Black said. "Freshman year I came in with no expectations.... I was just a sub to come in and give them a break, but I came in and did a little more than what was expected. It was easy for me because I didn't have that pressure. I was just allowed to go in and do what I did, and whatever I did was good.

"Sophomore and junior years it was a little bit harder because there was more expected from me. I was a starter and I was expected to score and I was expected to do this and that, and I think that messed with my head some."

Despite her frustrations, Black, whose personalized Pennsylvania license plate reads "Duke Wms", has never lost sight of the team's success. Although she realizes she will have to take a more secondary role than she has ever had in her career, Black still remains committed to doing what she can for her team.

Without the pressures of leading the team, Black is committed to making her senior season memorable, even if it's not memorable in the eyes of the record books.

"I definitely do [feel the pressure is off]," she said. "My mindset coming into this year is I don't have that pressure because we have so many people who can do everything. What I'm going to do is go back to freshman year and do what I need to do.

"My biggest goal this year is just to have fun out there. It's my senior year, and it will be my last year playing basketball ever and I want to go out just having the greatest year ever, basketball-wise, success-wise and the fun I have out there."

And for the two nothing could be more fun, or redemptive, than a national championship.