In all honesty, I'm surprised "The Question" stayed under wraps for so long.
Up until about three or four weeks ago, you could safely listen to a postgame interview session in the Duke locker room and rarely worry about The Question rearing its ugly head.
Not that it was never brought up before, but ever since the Blue Devils approached the postseason and the national media started to outnumber the locals, Elton Brand and Will Avery have had to answer The Question over and over.
Phrase it however you want, it all means the same thing. Will either or both of the two become Duke's first players to leave college early for the NBA?
Take this past weekend, for example. Brand was asked The Question at Thursday's formal interview session and, by my count, five times during a 15-minute span after Friday's game against Southwest Missouri State.
Talk from the media, unfortunately, only mirrors conversation among many fans. At times, it's almost as if this season were a sidenote. Forget the present, what about next year? What will happen if Elton and Will depart?
Can an incoming freshman run the point?
Who will take over in the middle?
Who will follow the sophomores' lead and leave early themselves?
Who cares?
Shouldn't this season last at least one more week before moving on? Here's a team that just reached its first Final Four in five years and stands two games away from the program's third national championship. You would think that's enough excitement for now.
Mike Krzyzewski said earlier this week that he wants to make sure his players savor the moment and enjoy the experience. Shouldn't fans do the same?
There will be plenty of time to worry about next year; an entire offseason, in fact. Obviously, Brand and Avery will eventually make a decision about their future. Who knows, maybe they already have.
What student at this school doesn't think about what lies ahead after May? Will and Elton, lest we forget, are college students who, like everyone else, are trying not to let the future keep them from enjoying the present.
"I live for the moment and that's all I'm worried about," Brand said this weekend. "I'm enjoying myself right now."
Enjoyment isn't always easy. Instead of just being asked The Question, the sophomore roommates are also interrogated as to whether or not being Duke's first potential early entrants adds any pressure. Will they feel guilty?
Both, to their credit, have been quick to remind that history isn't their burden. Grant Hill's decision was different, as was Christian Laettner's. Their backgrounds aren't the same, nor are the factors they have to worry about.
"I just brush it off," Brand said. "I really just focus on the present. I don't want it to be a distraction for the team."
The team probably isn't nearly as distracted as the media, which went so far as to misreport this weekend that Brand had already made up his mind. It's as if someone thinks by being the 458th person to ask The Question, suddenly one of the players will respond, "Gee, you know I'm glad you asked that because I just made up my mind and I've been waiting to tell you, and only you."
It's not going to happen that way. The Blue Devils will head to St. Petersburg, hopefully return with their third set of nets and cap off one of the program's best seasons ever.
Then, talk will once again turn to the future. Why not wait until we've had a chance to enjoy this team?
Joel Israel is a Trinity senior and sports editor of The Chronicle.
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