Three minutes into the second half of the 2001 national championship game, Duke forward Mike Dunleavy knew he would need to step up in order to for the Blue Devils to win.
Dunleavy's roommate, National Player of the Year Shane Battier, and his classmate, All-American Jason Williams, were both struggling with their shots and upbeat Arizona was threatening to make a run similar to their early-second-half explosion only two nights earlier in the national semifinals against Michigan State.
So the Lake Oswego, Ore. native did exactly what he needed to do--he drained three consecutive three-pointers to give his team a double-digit lead at 50-39. When the Wildcats challenged Duke after Dunleavy's outburst, the sophomore drained another trey to put the Blue Devils up by 10 at 61-51, and they maintained this cushion throughout the final 10 minutes of the contest.
Dunleavy had won a national championship after only two years in college basketball, and he had played as big a part as anyone in making this dream a reality. Even though it hadn't changed him much as a person, it had altered the course of his life.
"I'm still the same old guy, but walking through airports, malls, stuff like that, people definitely recognize you," Dunleavy said. "Sometimes it can be a little annoying, but most of the time, you really appreciate it."
With his newfound stardom across the country, Dunleavy has high expectations to consistently perform at a top-notch level, and his first order of business in the off-season to meet these expectations was continuing to become a stronger, more physical player than he was in the past.
When Dunleavy entered Duke before his freshman year, he appeared lanky and disoriented with his ever-changing height. Despite being one of the tallest players on the team, he displayed reluctance to crash among the titans in the paint and often relegated himself to the perimeter, where he felt confident shooting three-pointers and helping to distribute the ball with his uncanny passing ability.
But after gaining nearly 25 noticeable pounds of muscle, Dunleavy is ready to take on players of all different sizes on both ends of the court. He'll still be excited at the opportunity to score from downtown, but when he's needed in the interior, he'll be prepared to crash the boards.
"I think I'm going to play down low a little more than I have. I'm still going to be doing a lot of stuff on the perimeter, but I'll slide down to the post a little more and match up against bigger guys," Dunleavy said. "And when a smaller guy is on me or it's a same-size matchup, I'm going to try to use my ability in the post to go at him.
"I've worked on it a lot this fall and over the summer, and I'm really confident. I'm really comfortable for someone who hasn't played that much down there. I think that it will work out well."
While beefing up and playing a physical brand of basketball is something that Dunleavy has been forced to learn since arriving at Duke, his penchant to lead has been ingrained in him since he first learned how to play the game. Growing up as the son of longtime NBA coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr,. and being surrounded by basketball greats like Magic Johnson--who played for the older Dunleavy's Lakers--has given the Duke co-captain many examples of how to command a presence within his team.
And this tutoring continued since Dunleavy arrived in Durham, as he quickly befriended Battier and roomed with current Memphis Grizzly last year. Throughout the season, Dunleavy picked up some of Battier's leadership traits, and since Battier graduated in May, the two have talked a few times about Dunleavy's new role for the Blue Devils.
However, Dunleavy cautions that his role as a leader is quite distinct from Battier's role of a year ago.
"Last year, Shane was pretty dominant in his leadership role. It's a different leadership role in that Shane and Nate were much older than us... so you had that Omother hen' kind of leadership," Dunleavy said. "Whereas this year, we're all pretty much around the same age, so we're not going to be telling guys to tie their shoes and all that kind of stuff. It's more of a mature team, so it's everybody's responsibility. If there's a few things here or there that need to be touched up on, then I'm going to get in there and say something."
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski also recognizes that the responsibilities of Dunleavy and co-captain Williams will be different from their predecessors as captains.
"We have to have a different form of leadership. Shane was such a dominant leader and Nate, in his own way, was the perfect example of the quiet leader," Krzyzewski said. "I truly believe both those kids left a residue of leadership there that these guys can build from. I really see it primarily in Dunleavy. Dunleavy is playing great. He looks great. He is trying to lead our team."
In serving as one of the standard-bearers for Duke on the court, Dunleavy will not only have to assert himself as a leader, but will also have to put up big numbers in many facets of the game. With Battier gone, the junior will be one of a handful of Blue Devils--including sophomore Chris Duhon and junior Carlos Boozer--who will need to emerge as Duke's second scoring threat behind Williams. Not surprisingly, the gung-ho shooter looks forward to getting more scoring opportunities.
"Of course, Jason is our main scorer coming back, but I think this year, you're going to see a wider variety of guys--it's really equal at the top," Dunleavy said. "I think the gap between Jason and the rest of the team has really closed over the summer and all five guys are capable of stepping up."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.