In the weeks since former head coach Gail Goestenkors' departure, the current Duke players have made a conscious effort to maintain contact with the program's three 2007 recruits.
The Blue Devils send text messages, exchange e-mails and talk on their cell phones with the incoming players-Krystal Thomas even sent Abby Waner pictures of her high school prom.
It's all part of the players' attempt to continue the recruiting process left deserted in the absence of a coaching staff.
But just nine days after Goestenkors left Duke for Texas, and five days after former assistant coach and recruiting guru Tia Jackson was introduced as Washington's next head coach, Duke lost another part of its potential future.
Elena Delle Donne, a 6-foot-4 forward from Delaware and the consensus No. 1 player in the 2008 recruiting class, dropped Duke from her short list of schools. She added Texas, Goestenkors' new school, to her final six contenders.
Duke's three signees from the class of 2007-Karima Christmas, Jasmine Thomas and Krystal Thomas-have not shown any intentions of opting out of their letters of intent. Even though next year's class is secure, the still coach-less Blue Devils may be losing out on future recruits.
Shay Selby, Duke's lone signee for 2008, is unsure whether she will honor her verbal commitment, her high school coach said.
"Let's ascertain the fact that she's still coming," Regina High School coach Pat Diulus said. "We don't know that. She gave a verbal commitment to a staff that's no longer there."
Without any formal recruiters, the Duke players have stepped up and assumed responsibility for their program.
After the April 3 meeting in which Goestenkors told her players she was leaving, Waner spoke to the returning players and stressed the importance of keeping the incoming players in the loop, to prevent them from feeling abandoned.
"If I'm updating the team, I'll send [the recruits] the same text message," Waner said. "There's been constant contact with those three. The players on the team now have really taken ownership of what Duke Basketball is. We feel more responsibility, but the team has really embraced it, and I'm really proud."
The players are more involved, but they cannot realistically be a legitimate substitute for an actual coaching staff. Duke's recruiting likely would not have been affected had a coach been hired quickly, recruiting expert Chris Hansen of hoopgurlz.com said.
California-Berkeley head coach Joanne Boyle, the front-runner for the job, declined Duke's offer last week. The coaching search has expanded since then, as Boyle was the only immediate contender for the job.
"Getting someone that knows what they are doing, can relate to the kids and works hard will be sufficient," Hansen said. "The Duke name is prestigious now with women's basketball.... If they make a good hire, you've got people who care about the program, not just who the coach is."
Next year's recruits-none of whom could be reached for comment-seem firm in their commitments, but some future signees are unsettled. Selby, hoopgurlz.com's No. 11 prospect in the 2008 class, is an explosive scorer and tremendous student. Both traits attracted her to Duke. Selby also seriously considered Stanford and Vanderbilt-both basketball powerhouses with excellent academic programs-before deciding on the Blue Devils.
Diulus said Selby wants to stick with her commitment. The 5-foot-9, five-star point guard from Cleveland, however, will likely visit the Duke campus again when a new coach is hired before deciding whether or not to start the recruiting process over.
"It's kind of a wake-up call for her," Diulus said. "She's been taking a wait-and-see attitude.... She's thinking, 'Let me find out who's the next head coach, make a fair observation and talk to the people close to me.' I said the greatest thing in the world about a verbal is that it's just a verbal."
When Delle Donne, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, replaced Duke with Texas, her statement was clear-the best player in the country was intrigued by Goestenkors. Whether or not top recruits will be interested in Duke without Goestenkors remains to be seen, but Waner is optimistic.
"I was talking to [Director of Athletics] Joe Alleva today and I said that Duke recruits itself," Waner said. "Maybe at other schools, you need a top-notch recruiter. But Duke is such an amazing school and place to play basketball, if you get a good enough head coach in, it's not going to ultimately come down to the coach. Overall, we're still going to keep getting the top players in the nation because of what Duke means."
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