Since 1995, the Jimmy V Men's Basketball Classic has helped raise nearly $450,000 for the V Foundation for Cancer Research in honor of the late Jim Valvano, the legendary North Carolina State Basketball Coach and ESPN broadcaster who lost his battle with cancer in 1993 at age 47.
The annual four-team tournament has become one of the most competitive in men's college basketball, and this year, for the first time, the women will hold their own version of this charitable event.
The inaugural Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic will be held Sunday at the RBC Center in Raleigh and will feature three teams from last year's NCAA Final Four.
In the first game, No. 1 Duke will battle No. 2 Tennessee, followed by No. 6 Connecticut against North Carolina State.
"It is an honor for all of us to be involved in the inaugural Jimmy V Classic," Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said."More than anything we feel honored to be invited and included. We are looking forward to a great weekend."
The Blue Devils, ranked No. 1 for the first time in school history, will have a chance for revenge against six-time NCAA Champion Tennessee, which defeated Duke 89-68 in the ACC-SEC Challenge last December. However, such a challenging early-season contest will not allow Goestenkors the luxury of easing her five freshmen into Duke's system.
"Tennessee is a great team and I don't know if we are ready for that with the five freshmen we have," Goestenkors said. "They are going to be thrown into the fire.
Duke will have to contend with a strong Tennessee squad that has already handily defeated No. 23 Oklahoma, a Final Four team from last season.
The Lady Vols are led by senior Naismith candidates Gwen Jackson and Kara Lawson. The duo combined for 39 points in Tennessee's victory over Duke last year, and they teamed up for 41 points in their opener against the Sooners.
Also dangerous for the Lady Vols in 6-foot-2 sophomore forward Shyra Ely, who averaged 9.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game during her freshman campaign.
Jackson, Lawson and Ely lead the Lady Vols' new motion offense that allows them to showcase their skilled three-point shooters, penetrators and post players. The revamped system also helps Tennessee dominate on the boards, something that has become a trademark of head coach Pat Summit's teams.
"We have to do an awesome job on the boards because Tennessee is such an incredible offensive rebounding team," Duke senior tri-captain Sheana Mosch said. "Every time they shoot the ball they have four or five people crashing the boards extremely hard. We just have to make sure every time a shot goes up we're blocking out so they don't get 17 offensive boards like they did last year against us."
Mosch's role will be particularly key for Duke after Monique Curry, who averaged 14.3 points per game as a freshman last season, tore her anterior cruciate ligament in the team's first preseason game and will be lost for the season. Mosch will replace Curry in the starting lineup against Tennessee.
"The biggest thing that I have to step up with is my rebounding because [Monique] was such an incredible rebounder for us," Mosch said. "She would get three or four offensive boards for us every game."
Even without Curry, the Blue Devils should be able to match-up well against an experienced Tennessee team that returns nine players from last season.
Duke's offense will likely rely heavily on Naismith candidates Iciss Tillis and Alana Beard, whose versatile games could present problems for Tennessee defenders.
Beard, who dreamed of playing basketball for Tennessee as a kid, has added strength and range to her game and should be even more difficult to contain than she was in the teams' 2001 meeting, when she connected for 18 points, seven assists and four steals.
"We're going to have to execute and stay patient against Tennessee," Beard said. "I think as a team we're ready to play them some we can learn what we need to improve on."
Beard and the Blue Devils may be ready for Tennessee, but Summit believes that her squad is equally prepared for the contest.
"This challenge has generated a lot of excitement on our team," Summit said. "If you're playing against the best team in the country right out of the blocks, it gets everyone's attention. And we think Duke is the best team in the country right now."
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