A lot has changed since last March.
The 6-foot-7 frontcourt force, Alison Bales, is gone. The National Player of the Year, Lindsey Harding, is gone. The Associated Press Coach of the Year, Gail Goestenkors, is gone.
But for Duke, the national-championship-or-bust mindset remains the same.
"Regardless of the situation here, we always have an expectation of making a championship-level season," shooting guard Abby Waner said. "Those are just standards that we've always had here. And no matter what happens, we're not going to lower those or make them higher. It's the mentality that's been here, and it's going to stay."
Despite-or perhaps because of-those lofty goals, two consecutive seasons have ended in heartbreak for the Blue Devils. In 2006, they squandered a 13-point second-half lead in the National Championship against Maryland. And in 2007, they suffered another second-half collapse versus Rutgers in the Sweet 16, overshadowing the team's undefeated regular season. Then the coaching frenzy began. Goestenkors left for Texas, and California head coach Joanne Boyle spurned her alma mater.
Enter Joanne P. McCallie, the 2005 Associated Press Coach of the Year at Michigan State.
The first-year coach has already made her presence felt in Durham. She instituted the program's first-ever Blue-White scrimmage. She has helped sell more than 1,100 new season tickets. And, perhaps most importantly, she has made subtle tweaks on the basketball court-changes that the players think could boost them to their first national title.
Practices have been earlier, longer and tougher. McCallie makes the players pay more attention to tiny details, like making layups before jogging to the back of the line. The rookie head coach has emphasized strength more than endurance. Instead of running as punishment, the Blue Devils do pushups and situps. At this time last year, Waner could crank out about 25 consecutive pushups. Earlier this fall, that number was up to 71.
But for all that is different, there is still plenty of the same.
"By no means are we changing anything fundamental about this team," said Waner, who led Duke in scoring last year. "We run, we press, we play man-to-man, high-pressure defense. None of that is going to change, because that's what makes us successful.... It has to be the details that separate teams. If you look at the top teams, every team is athletic, every team can defend, every team will have someone that can score. It's going to come down to the little things."
Although attention to detail is important, what distinguishes Duke from the top-ranked opponents on its rigorous schedule has nothing to do with the its revamped practice regimen. In the midst of uncertainty last spring, the Blue Devils bonded in a way that no coach could have forced. They stuck together when Goestenkors left, and they called the three incoming freshmen and reassured them of the program's future.
The team's postseason past, coupled with its triumph over adversity last spring, will define its 2007-2008 season.
Maybe the Blue Devils are out to prove something.
Maybe it's a chip on their shoulder.
Whatever it is, though, McCallie likes.
"You don't go around saying you've been done wrong all the time and expect to do great things," she said. "It doesn't work that way. These kids have come together, stronger. People ask me if we've done team building. Have we done team building? That's all they did for an entire spring.... What other team was trying to formulate its team then? This team was. Without any leadership, without any head coach. There's power in that. That's what's going to be what drives this group."
The Blue Devils have faced an uncertain future before. After losing a 2006 core that included Mistie Williams and Monique Currie, Duke was picked third in the ACC preseason poll last year. That team defied those expectations en route to its undefeated regular season and sat atop the national rankings from the middle of January until March.
McCallie's squad faces the same situation this year, again picked third behind Maryland and North Carolina. This team, however, can at least do one thing better than last year's.
The Blue Devils know how to push themselves up.
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