Jamyon Small has been on a team with a nation-leading 23-game losing streak and an conference-record 24-game ACC losing streak, but he does not regret a minute of it. Instead of griping about all of Duke's failures, Small has learned from adversity.
As a senior, Small looked forward to ringing the Victory Bell for Duke for the first time in twelve years in his last collegiate game. Unfortunately, Small is forced to learn from pain again, as the Blue Devils lone senior tore his left anterior cruciate ligament last Saturday against Georgia Tech and will miss this season's final game.
Small began his Duke career by committing on national signing day in 1998 with 17 other players, but the other 16, for a variety of reasons, no longer play for the Blue Devils. This Saturday, on Senior Day, the Pontiac, Mich., native will be the only senior acknowledged. Although he misses those teammates that have already left Duke, Small has enjoyed his role as the oldest player on the team.
"Many of the friends that I came with aren't here, but as I've told [this team], they've been my family. I just wanted to help them to grow as people on and off the field."
When the 2002 season started, Small was the only player on the roster who had ever experienced a win. Guiding the team to a victory in the season opener against East Carolina, Small gained his best college memory.
"My best memory of the year was after the ECU game," Small said. "Everybody was running onto the field and tearing down the goal posts, and I was kind of standing to the side and I saw my dad and my cousin standing on the sideline. I just went over to [my dad]. We just looked at each other like 'it's over .'"
But not all of Small's memories of his days as a Blue Devil have been happy; Duke has compiled a 5-39 record since Small's redshirt freshman year. Looking back on two winless seasons, Small is proud that his team never gave up.
"I'm very proud how week in and week out, we've gone out and played," he said. "In the past we were playing games where we didn't seem to have a chance, and even though people wrote us off, I feel like we've played up and above our abilities."
Small was not used to losing, since his high school team never lost more than three games in one season. Playing at Brother Hood Rice High School, the All-American linebacker surprised many when he decided to take his abilities outside of the Big Ten.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.