Reggie Love spent much of the 2000-01 basketball season as something of a curiosity, the wide receiver on the football team who walked onto the basketball team.
But an injury to Carlos Boozer forced Love into the spotlight, where he showed himself to be more than just a curiosity, helping the Blue Devils through the ACC tournament and NCAA Championship.
This season, Love again makes the difficult jump from the gridiron to the hardwood.
"It's going pretty well," Love said. "Condition-wise, I'm not in great shape, but it's getting better with time. I can't expect to be great or even decent right now, because I didn't do anything with the team in the preseason. But it's going well."
As he works himself back into shape and Duke battles a difficult schedule, Love is not seeing a lot a playing time. He has averaged 4.6 minutes per game this season, down from last year's 6.2 minutes per game.
But, Love is not concerned.
"I just want to do whatever is best for the team, if that is playing a lot or playing a little, or not playing at all," he said. "I have a lot of confidence in what Coach K believes and what he does. No matter what he decides about me playing, it's going to be best for the team."
That confidence extends to Mike Krzyzewski's recent dramatic actions. In the wake of an embarrassing loss to ACC also-ran Florida State, Krzyzewski had the nameplates taken off the player's lockers and had the chairs removed from the locker room.
"It was sort of a shock," Love said. "But we had just lost to Florida State, so something needed to be done. We have such a talented team, and we weren't producing what we should be. I knew [Krzyzewski's reaction] was going to be something crazy."
In addition to spoiling an undefeated season, that defeat led to reports that the Blue Devils had gained the reputation for being soft.
Love, who has seen more than his fair share of middle linebackers, dismissed the claim.
"I think we have one of the toughest teams in the country," he said. "As for what people perceive, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. When people see us play, or play us, they can make the decision for themselves. We've got Chris [Duhon] and Jason [Williams], who are strong on the ball and put strong pressure all over the court. Carlos is like 6 foot-9, 270 pounds. Dahntay is a big physical guard. I don't see us as soft."
As the Blue Devils move into tournament time, where limited time between games can lead to increased playing time for reserves, Love is not sure what to expect for the rest of his season.
"[How much playing time I get] depends on how everyone else is playing and how things are going," he said. "You never know who is going to be healthy and who is not going to be healthy and how academics are holding up. There are a lot of factors that determine that."
Even though he sees few minutes at this point, Love has to work like a starter. In addition to basketball season, this time of year doubles as his preparation for spring football practice.
"I always want to finish the season in good shape," he said. "Even when we're not practicing as much at the end of the season and we're traveling to the NCAA tournament, I have to keep working hard. I don't want to leave the season less conditioned. I want to make sure that I do my part to make sure I'm doing everything that my [football] teammates are to keep ready."
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