After a sensational freshman season in which she averaged 14.3 points per game and was named second team All-ACC, Monique Currie appeared poised to make an even bigger leap for the Blue Devils in 2002-2003. During the offseason she had noticeably improved her shooting range, her athleticism and her defensive abilities, improvements that suggested the 6-foot small forward would help lead the preseason No.1 women's basketball team to postseason glory.
Five seconds into the Blue Devils' Nov. 5 season-opening exhibition game against Premier Players, however, those plans were dramatically altered. A torn ACL had finished Currie's season.
One week later, as she prepared for upcoming reconstructive surgery, Currie took time to reflect on her injury's ramifications, both to herself and the team.
"We're still going to have a great season this year," she said. "I just would have liked to have been part of it. I still have a lot of faith in the team. We can still win a national championship, which is our ultimate goal. But everyone is going to have to step up their game to replace what I'm not contributing."
A number of factors have helped Currie maintain such a positive attitude. First, although she suffered a complete tear to her anterior cruciate ligament, her injury does not included damage to the any of the surrounding ligaments, a factor which should facilitate her rehabilitation. Secondly, because the injury occurred early in the Blue Devils' preseason, Currie will be able to take a medical redshirt year, and thus not lose a year of eligibility.
These factors may be of small consolation considering the daunting six months awaiting Currie, but the Washington D.C., native has taken solace in the fact that all current indications point to her returning next season stronger and more prepared.
"I'll learn a lot about the game watching," she said. "I'll still get that extra year, so it couldn't have come at a better time, but it still sucks."
Currie's injury came as a major setback to the Duke coaching staff, as head coach Gail Goestenkors and her assistants were suddenly confronted with the Blue Devils' first major knee injury in two years.
"We had the next day off, which I think was really good," Goestenkors said. "It gave us coaches time to adjust and think about things that we were going to need to do a little differently without her. We had practice the following day and we just talked to the team about the fact that every year we face some sort of adversity and we're just facing ours early this year."
Because of the Blue Devils' vastly increased depth this season-made possible by the five freshman that comprise the nation's top-ranked recruiting class--the team should be able to absorb Currie's injury blow with success. With Duke expected to go 11 deep, Goestenkors has a wealth of personnel options.
Senior captain Sheana Mosch will step into Currie's starting role, which should add hustle and grit to the Blue Devils. Should Mosch catch fire as she did during her sophomore year when she set a new Duke record for points in a four-game stretch, the veteran could adequately replace Currie's scoring presence as well.
Goestenkors could also decide to put one of her five post players at the three spot-- most probably either 6-1 Michelle Matyasovsky or 6-4 Iciss Tillis, Duke's two most agile power forwards--thereby creating an extremely tall lineup.
Its ability to adapt to Currie's loss on the court notwithstanding, the Blue Devils' will most certainly feel her loss off the court.
"She's probably my best friend, so it's hard to see her sad," Tillis said. "This is going to be the longest time she's ever not played basketball.
Like her fallen teammate, Tillis also assumed an outlook of optimism, as she noted that Currie could benefit from her injury in many ways.
"When she comes back, not only is she going to be a lot stronger physically, she's going to have a great advantage mentally because she will know the game really well," she said. "So the injury is terrible, but she is going to be gaining some other intangible aspects of the game.
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