The Chronicle last's day of weekly production in the summer was July 2 and, naturally, there has been plenty of news about Duke Athletics in the last two months. The Chronicle has covered it on its new Sports Blog, which you can access at www.dukechroniclesports.com. The following are excerpts from blog posts from August.
Greer to use 5th year at Bryant, Aug. 12
Zack Greer, the NCAA's all-time leading goal scorer, has decided to use his NCAA-granted fifth year of eligibility with former Duke head coach Mike Pressler at Bryant.
Pressler was forced to resign from his Duke position in 2006 in light of rape allegations that later proved false. He became coach at Division-II Bryant in August 2006, and he will lead the Bulldogs as they transition to Division I next season, even though the team will not yet be eligible to participate in the postseason.
Greer graduated from Duke in the spring, but, like other non-seniors from the 2006 team, had an extra year of eligibility.
Head coach John Danowski told Inside Lacrosse that Greer decided against Duke last fall and had looked at graduate school opportunities elsewhere, including Ohio State, Denver and St. Lawrence throughout the year.
"The whole thing, in the end, has to be viewed from an academic aspect," Danowski told IL. "This game's just a means to an end and it's about looking at how you can position yourself the best way possible.... He could have gone straight into the NLL; he didn't have to play college lacrosse again....
"Our conversations [in the fall] were about what is going to make you happy, what are you going to get out of a fifth year and we talked about his options."
Greer needs just 68 points to eclipse former Duke star Matt Danowski as the NCAA's all-time leading scorer. He amassed 95 points in 2007.
Boyette out indefinitely, Aug. 10
Senior running back Re'quan Boyette, the team's leading rusher for the past two seasons who was expected to play a major role in new head coach David Cutcliffe's offense, underwent orthoscopic surgery Aug. 10 for a leg injury sustained in Aug. 9's intrasquad scrimmage. Boyette will be sidelined indefinitely.
"We're certainly disappointed for Re'quan, but we know that he'll do everything in his power to return to the field," Cutcliffe said in a statement.
The Blue Devils will likely look to senior Clifford Harris to replace Boyette, whose 1,072 career yards rank him seventh on the list of active ACC players. In a 90-play situational spring scrimmage, Boyette scampered for 139 yards on 18 carries. He was certainly one of the team's most impressive spring performers.
Other options at the position are converted cornerback Tony Jackson, who rushed for 85 yards on five carries in Duke's spring game, redshirt freshman Cameron Jones and true freshman Jay Hollingsworth.
Cutcliffe moves student section, adds fireworks, Aug. 13
No longer will Tailgate attenders be close enough to heckle opposing teams. Cutcliffe has decided to move the student section in Wallace Wade Stadium behind the Duke bench on the other side of the field, he told employees Thursday while giving them free tickets to Duke's opener against James Madison Aug. 30.
Erin Wood, the program's student marketing liaison, told The Chronicle in July that the student section would be moved to sections 20 through 23-not quite directly behind the Blue Devils, but close enough. Two reasons for the move: Cutcliffe wants students to be closer to the players to cheer for them, and the sun will no longer be in students' faces. The glare won't be an issue for the first two games, both 7 p.m. kickoffs, and it certainly won't interfere with the new fireworks displays slated to begin after the contests against James Madison and Northwestern.
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