Chris Carrawell does not have anyone special coming to visit on Senior Day.
Just his mom and his two little brothers and his little sister, of course. Oh, and his high school coach. That's about it.
No, wait, there's also a couple of high school buddies... and their parents. Oops, forgot about his godmother and his fourth- grade teacher, too.
That's pretty much everyone. Oh, except for his preacher and-how many is it again?-six members of the congregation. Yep, that's just about everybody.
"I'm the only senior... so it's going to be kind of lonely out there," said Carrawell, apparently unaware of the irony. "It's definitely going to be emotional."
Indeed, tomorrow's season finale against North Carolina will be a dramatic send-off. Carrawell, owner of four regular-season league crowns, is believed to be the first one-man senior class in coach Mike Krzyzewski's 20 years at Duke.
But if the more than 20 family members and friends in attendance aren't enough, there will be 9,000 more fans making sure Carrawell's Cameron goodbye is anything but lonely.
"I've been through a lot of things here and the fans have always been really supportive of every team we've had," Carrawell said. "I think they appreciate me."
There are larger issues at stake, of course, from North Carolina's jockeying for ACC tournament position to Duke's quest for a top NCAA seed. But all that will melt away quickly under the heat of a Saturday afternoon in Cameron.
To a player with a league-record 62 career victories, nothing means more than going out on top-with a win against North Carolina.
"It's always special because of the rivalry," Carrawell said. "You know, you can feel it."
Carrawell's first memory of the rivalry is also his fondest: Trajan Langdon scoring 28 points, including 20 in the second half, to snap Duke's seven-game losing streak against the Heels in 1997.
"That was probably the best feeling I've had in Cameron," said Carrawell, who is 6-3 against UNC in his career. "Beating Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter-before those guys were so big-that was the best feeling."
Since that game an entire team has been built up, torn down and rebuilt around Carrawell. He is the lone senior from a class which originally included higher-touted prospects Nate James (now a redshirt junior) and Mike Chappell (transferred to Michigan State).
Now there are seven Blue Devil freshman hoping to feel what Carrawell felt on Jan. 29, 1997. They will be lucky if this game matches up to Carrawell's first Duke-UNC experience in Cameron-or if it even equals the two teams' last meeting, a 90-86 overtime Duke win last month.
But they will be most fortunate if they can follow in Carrawell's dominant footsteps for the next three years. The St. Louis native's 110 career victories are just 12 shy of the Duke and ACC record, held by Christian Laettner.
And an ACC player of the year award may be Carrawell's reward for keeping his patience while those around him lost theirs.
"Coming into this league, I never thought I'd even be considered for player of the year in such a great conference," Carrawell said. "I guess it's the model of a guy that stays four years.
"Kids nowadays leave after one or two years of school. They want it now instead of working on their game. I wasn't spoiled. Good things come to those who wait, that's what my mother always told me."
Carrawell hasn't given much thought to actual goodbyes. He won't don a tuxedo like Gene Banks or have his hometown announced as Durham, N.C., like Steve Wojciechowski.
And when the time comes to address the crowd, he'll improvise-just like he does with a baseline drive or a quick pullup jumper.
"I don't know what I'm going to say," Carrawell said. "I might just grab the microphone and start rapping."
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