The bell of the Blue Zone stock exchange has just rung again, meaning it's time to take another look at who is rising and falling with their performances for Blue Devil sports teams. Each week The Blue Zone will look at whose stock is on the rise and whose stock has taken a hit from the week in the world of Duke athletics.
Bull Market—Trending Up
Duke field hockey: Shortly following a difficult overtime loss to sixth-ranked Stanford, the Blue Devils found themselves back in overtime Sunday against No. 3 Maryland. After a late Maryland goal forced the extra session, freshman Morgan Bitting scored a goal in the 79th minute to propel Duke to their second consecutive win over a top-10 opponent, following their defeat of No. 10 Northwestern on Friday. The win moved the Blue Devils to 3-1 on the season as they prepare to open ACC play Friday against Wake Forest.
Duke men’s soccer: The Blue Devils won their third straight contest to begin the season with a 2-1 victory against Iona on Sunday. Although the Gaels jumped ahead early—scoring their first goal at the 17-minute mark—Duke scored two goals off headers from corner kicks en route to their victory. The Blue Devils hope to continue their winning ways as they take on Loyola Tuesday at home before beginning their ACC schedule Friday at Koskinen Stadium against Virginia.
Duke men’s basketball recruiting: Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski continued to bolster what is likely to shape up into another dominant recruiting class by securing a commitment from point guard Frank Jackson. The Lone Peak, Utah, native is the No. 14 player in the 2016 ESPN 200 and becomes the second high school senior to commit to the Blue Devils—joining five-star recruit Jayson Tatum. Krzyzewski continues to pursue other top recruits in the class of 2016 in hopes of repeating the recruiting success that gave the program the top-ranked recruiting classes the last two seasons.
Bear Market—Trending Down
Duke basketball freshmen: With the 2015 national champion Blue Devils headed to the White House to be honored by President Barack Obama, this year's freshmen had a chance to join their victorious counterparts on the way to Washington D.C. The trip started well with the youngsters sitting amongst current NBA players Tyus Jones, Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow.
Wheels up to D.C.! ✈️
#HereComesDuke pic.twitter.com/L5XceorGer
— Duke Basketball (@dukeblueplanet) September 7, 2015
But in a matter of hours, the Blue Devil freshman simply "could not hang" as former Duke star Jahlil Okafor stated.
On the way to DC. Our freshmans couldn't hang. #NoLacking pic.twitter.com/hwgU52YjYc
— Jahlil Okafor (@JahlilOkafor) September 7, 2015
Although the season does not begin for a couple of months, let's hope the new Blue Devils are ready to go come November.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.