The three captains have heard the doomsday preachers.
Chris Carrawell, Shane Battier and Nate James know everyone expects Duke to be down this year. They know they are the underdogs.
The only three returning players from last year's national runner-up team held a captains' meeting before they split up for the summer. They discussed what everyone else was saying about them, and they made a pact.
"A lot of people are expecting us to be down, but we made a bond that we're not going to let that happen," Carrawell said. "We were talking about that everything with this team is going to be held on our shoulders. We accept that responsibility. So if something's going wrong, it's not anybody else's fault, it's our fault. If we're not playing well, it's our fault.
"We are all going to have to step our game up. We expect to be at a high level. That is what Duke basketball is all about."
Mike Krzyzewski is asking a lot of his three captains. He is asking that they become the heart and soul of next year's team. He is asking a group of three role players to step into the spotlight and lead the Blue Devils to victory.
"The key to our team next year is those three kids," Krzyzewski said. "I think it's a tremendous opportunity for them to show their leadership, their mentoring abilities. They need to be consistent and demonstrate the toughness and the experience that they have.... We can have a lot of fun with our team and watch them develop. I'm really excited about them and seeing what this whole situation will do for them."
It is a situation that all three players are also excited about.
"We have all been role players, important roles in the last couple of years, but nonetheless, role players," Battier said. "So it's exciting to now be at the forefront of one of the premier schools in the history of college basketball and be able to lead it into the new year."
At their captains' meeting, the three players discussed setting the right attitude for the six incoming freshmen. The trio decided that immediately upon the freshmen's arrivals, it was the captains' responsibilities to define Duke basketball. The definition they agreed upon was winning.
"We said we need to establish the tone early for the year," Battier explained. "There might be some lessened expectations from the media and people around us, but we don't want to use that as an excuse for anything. We want to come out and play the way we have the last two years, where every time we step out onto the court we expect and demand to win."
The three returning players do not see next year as a down year, just a different year. Last preseason they saw incredible expectations; this summer, they see incredible opportunity.
"It will be a different situation next year," Battier said. "It will be a totally different feel: a new coaching staff, a new team, new locker rooms. It's a great time for Duke University to start a brand new page with Duke basketball."
Becoming `The Man'
"I move to The Man next year basically. I don't want to sound cocky or anything, but that's basically what it's come down to."
Chris Carrawell knows the expectations. After lurking in the shadows for three years, the role player must now become the star. He is training harder than he ever has and at the World University Games, he is playing with
"Coach K told me before I left, `Okay, you're a good actor, making pretty good money, but now you're the head actor. You're the superstar now,'" Carrawell said. "I train that way. Everything I do is at a higher level now. Not to say I didn't do it in the past, but it's my time now."
This is an important year for Carrawell. Not only is he expected to keep Duke at a top level, but on a personal level, this year will also determine his future in professional basketball. He calls this year the most important year of his life, and he is ready to meet the challenge head on.
"I've always wanted it," Carrawell said. "If you always watch the games, the only games that I played really, really well in are the big games. That's what I thrive on, the pressure. The real players come out this year, that's all I've got to say.
"You would have nights off last year but nobody really talked about it, because we had four lottery picks, so what are you going to say? Next year, you can't have any nights off because we're not going to be as deep or as talented. I'm ready to take it on, baby. I train like that now."
Carrawell is not what one would call a shy person. While some fold under additional media pressure, Carrawell loves it. In mid-April, when speculation was running rampant about the futures of his teammates, Carrawell said he hoped they would come back, but added with a grin, "If not, then I become the cover boy." He is more than willing to become Duke's featured player.
"I was in the shadows last year, that's no secret," Carrawell said. "People don't know, but I was in the shadow even more than they really think. I was probably the sixth guy, even though I was a starter.... This is one of those things where I can get my name up there, get a little publicity, but hey, it's my time I guess. I guess I paid my dues and it's coming to me now and I'm ready for it."
And while Carrawell is certainly not shy of his emerging spotlight and eager to complete his transformation into The Man, at times he still cannot help but look back into the past.
"I'm going to miss them, because those guys are my friends too, especially Trajan, we've played three years together," he said. "To see all those guys in the NBA next year is going to be funny. It seems like I'm the only one left. But I know Shane really feels hard too-he lost all three of his classmates. It's tough, but you have to go on I guess."
Moving On
Shane Battier was once a member of the most highly touted recruiting class since Michigan's Fab Five. But just halfway through his Duke career, he's all that's left of the famed Class of 2001.
"I knew coming into my freshman year that the chances of playing with the same group of guys that I came in with were pretty slim. That's just the nature of college basketball nowadays and I'm not naïve to think otherwise," Battier said. "But I certainly didn't think it would be at this level where it comes so quick and so heavily as it did this year."
When Elton Brand and Will Avery left for the riches of the NBA, they left behind their freshman roommate. Two weeks later, when Chris Burgess decided he would transfer, perhaps the best recruiting class in Duke history was officially dead.
All that is left behind is Battier.
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But Battier must do much more than recover from the loss of his friends. He must also replace them. Last season, Battier became much more offensively minded than he was his freshman year, but the rising junior now has to emerge as a consistent scorer, something he has yet to prove he can do.
"I'll definitely be ready to [play a larger offensive role]," Battier said. "People think I didn't shoot because I couldn't shoot the last two years, but I was fully capable of scoring. We just had so many weapons I was content just to play the defensive role. Now I'm fully prepared and confident to step in and play the offensive role."
But even the way he plays offense may change. Although he spent the summer interning for a public relations firm in Chicago, Battier has been developing post moves.
"Obviously more of the offensive load will be put on myself," Battier said. "For me, I really want to work on my post game. Since Elton left and Chris Burgess transferred, there could be a hole in low-post scoring. So even though I drifted more to the perimeter last year, I'm trying to get my post game in tune this summer so I can become a threat down low. Once I couple that with the outside shooting I've been working on, I'm hoping to become a Roshown McLeod-like type player."
And while all three captains believe their transformations will happen, there is the question of time. Just how long will it take for the freshmen and captains to click and form a cohesive unit? Battier cannot speak for the freshmen, but says it will not take anytime for he and his fellow captains to rise to the occasion.
"We're prepared right now," Battier said. "When we left school [this summer], we knew that the onus was on the three captains. There is no time for an adjustment period, we have to step in right away. We're all mature enough, and we have been to the top of college basketball and back, just falling short of the pinnacle, but we've come as close as anyone can get, so we've been through it all. We're not too concerned trying to live up to these roles because we've been through a lot."
Going Through Everything
Nate James is not your typical captain.
Captains are not usually juniors who have spent the majority of their career on a bench or recovering from injuries. James is an unknown Blue Devil who has started only one game in his career. And just last year Sports Illustrated referred to him as Nate Jones.
But James may just be the perfect captain for next year's team. He knows a thing or two about fighting through hardships, and this year's Duke team will likely see plenty of struggles.
"It's been great to see Nate stick through all the adversity," Battier said. "It could have been very easy for him to throw his chips down and say, `I quit' and get down. But Nate's one of the most positive people I've ever met and I really want to emulate his perseverance and his never-say-die attitude. It's something I really admire."
In his short career, James has truly been through it all. He arrived at Duke as a top-20 prospect, but he injure
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