New assistant tennis coaches hired
Ramsey Smith, who graduated from Duke in 2001, is returning to his former team as an assistant coach, Duke announced July 14. Smith returns to assist head coach Jay Lapidus, under whom Smith won a school-record 119 career singles matches while leading the Blue Devils to a four-year 96-11 record.
Meanwhile, the Duke women’s tennis team announced the hiring of Stephanie Nickitas as an assistant coach July 11. Nickitas arrives after three seasons acting as assistant women’s coach at Harvard. There she helped guide the team to three Ivy League Crowns and was named Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s East Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
Williams, Redick try out for national teams
Headlining 13 of the nation’s top collegiate basketball players, Shelden Williams has accepted a bid to attend trials and training camp for the USA Basketball Men’s World University Games, July 28 to Aug. 4 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Duke basketball standout J.J. Redick has accepted an invitation to the USA Basketball Men’s U21 Nation Team Trials in Dallas, Texas, July 21 to 23. He will join 21 other young basketball players who hope to be one of the 12 ultimately selected for the squad.
Blue Devils draw Hoosiers for Challenge
Duke will face Indiana in the seventh annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Bloomington, Ind. Nov. 30. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN. The Blue Devils are undefeated in ACC/Big Ten Challenge play and the ACC has never lost the event.
Roy Williams admits wrongdoing
University of North Carolina Men’s Basketball Coach Roy Williams admitted to allowing former Kansas players—who had used up their eligibility—to receive gifts during his stint there. Williams said he was “deeply saddened,” and called the incident a mistake.
Beard named All-Star, but didn’t shine
Former Duke women’s basketball star Alana Beard represented the East squad in her first WNBA All-Star game July 9. Although the Washington Mystics guard promised victory, the West squad proved too strong as it won its sixth-straight All-Star game and held Beard to two points on 1-for-9 shooting.
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