The chimes at midnight
(04/28/14 7:55am)
Goodbye, Duke.
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Goodbye, Duke.
Barring any major hiccups, I will graduate in a few weeks with a degree in public policy, a minor in English and a certificate in policy journalism and media studies.
Like I imagine every basketball-obsessed Duke senior did, I checked the Duke eRecruiting website when I heard Steve Wojciechowski was taking the head coaching job at Marquette. Unfortunately I found no listing to apply for his job, so my unmatched experience—middle school point guard, high school varsity basketball manager, collegiate basketball writer—will go overlooked.
In Steve Wojciechowski’s 19 years at Duke as a player and coach—the majority of his life—he embodied the program’s image. If somebody owned a trademark on floor slapping, it would Wojciechowski.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Marquette has hired Duke associate head coach Steve Wojciechowski to replace Buzz Williams, according to ESPN's Jeff Goodman. Wojciechowski, who played at Duke from 1994-1998, joined the Duke coaching staff for the 1999-2000 season and has been on the sidelines for Mike Krzyzewski ever since. Known for slapping the floor and his spunky defense, Wojciechowski was named National Defensive Player of the Year in 1998. As an assistant, he worked primarily with the big men despite playing as a guard. Wojciechowski is Krzyzewski's second top assistant in as many years to accept a head coaching gig after Chris Collins left last year to take the reins at Northwestern. Wojo, as he is affectionately known, replaces Williams, who took the head coaching position at Virginia Tech. Wojciechowski also assisted Krzyzewski with his Team USA duties, working on the teams that won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012.
And in other news, Duke associate head coach Steve Wojciechowski—one of the team's top recruiters—is rumored to be of interest in the Marquette head coaching search. Former Golden Eagle head coach accepted the position at Virginia Tech, and Wojciechowski—along with Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin and former UCLA head coach Ben Howland—has been listed as a potential target.
Mike Krzyzewski sat down yesterday for a rare end-of-season press conference. He spoke about the season’s disappointing conclusion: the team’s second NCAA tournament Round of 64 exit in three years. He spoke about the need for more leadership, both on the court and from him. He spoke about the conference’s glory days: “The greatest basketball I’ve ever seen in the conference was in the '80s.” He spoke of his greatest regret as a coach in the last five years… not redshirting Ryan Kelly.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Luke Kennard, the No. 24 prospect in the class of 2015 according to ESPN, announced his commitment to Duke basketball this evening. A 6-foot-5 guard from Franklin, Ohio, Kennard made the announcement at his high school. Kennard is Duke's first commit in the class of 2015 and made his decision after taking an official visit for Duke's win against North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium in March. Kennard was one of many top prospects on hand that evening, including Myles Turner (2014) and Chase Jeter (2015). He averaged 40 points, 10.4 rebounds and four assists per game this year for Franklin High School. Kentucky, Ohio State, Michigan, Louisville, North Carolina and Florida were among the other schools Kennard was considering. "Not a ton of legit shooters in HS basketball, Luke Kennard is among the best in the 2015 class. High skill level too," Scout.com recruiting analyst Evan Daniels tweeted after his announcement.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Luke Kennard, the No. 24 player in the Class of 2015 according to ESPN, will announce his decision at 7:45 p.m., according to his Twitter. Kennard, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, could become Duke's first commit in the Class of 2015. According to his Crystal Ball predictions on 247sports.com, 67% of the contributing writers believe he will select the Blue Devils, with 24% favoring Kentucky and 4% favoring each of Ohio State and Michigan. He is also considering Louisville, North Carolina and Florida. He will make his announcement at his Franklin High School, where he won the Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year award last week. He averaged 40 points, 10.4 rebounds and four assists per game this year. Kennard officially visited Duke for the North Carolina game in March, watching the Blue Devils win 93-81 in their regular-season finale. Center Myles Turner (2014) and power forward Chase Jeter (2015) also officially visited that weekend while a number of other players took unofficial visits.
According to recent NCAA champion precedent, a title run isn’t in the cards for Duke: Its defense isn’t good enough.
Monday through Thursday this week, ?The Blue Zone ?will be breaking down each region in this year's NCAA Tournament. Today we begin with the South?.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For Duke fans, this video may be funny. For non-Duke fans, it may be funny or just another reason to hate former Blue Devil J.J. Redick. In a video for Funny or Die, the comedy website founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company, Redick explains how to fill out the perfect NCAA Tournament bracket. Redick, the 2006 National Player of the Year, never won a tournament with Duke but begins the video saying, he has "dominated four NCAA Tournaments."Here are some of the pearls of wisdom from Redick, who currently plays for the Los Angeles Clippers:
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Saturday's showdown between No. 4 Duke and No. 14 North Carolina has immediate implications for seeding in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. The more meaningful implications, however, may play out in the coming months and years as a handful of top recruits are set to visit Cameron Indoor Stadium for the action. Myles Turner (2014), Chase Jeter (2015) and Luke Kennard (2015) are taking official visits, while Brandon Ingram (2015), Harry Giles (2016) and Josh Langford (2016) are expected to visit unofficially. Turner, the No. 2 recruit in 2014 according to ESPN, is the only top-40 player in his class who has yet to commit. A 6-foot-11 center from Texas, Turner visited Kansas Wednesday and has already officially seen Ohio State and Oklahoma State, according to Zagsblog. He still plans to visit Texas and potentially Kentucky and has unofficially seen Texas A&M and SMU. 247 Sports has an interview with Turner's father, David, following the Kansas visit. Turner would give Duke a loaded frontcourt next year alongside the No. 1 recruit in 2014, Jahlil Okafor, but it's unclear how realistic that is given that they play the same position. The Blue Devils are not considered the favorite to land Turner. Okafor will be in town for the game, according to Blue Devil Digest, and fellow 2014 commit Justise Winslow—who has seen a number of games recently including the Duke-UNC game at the Dean Dome, will be in attendance per multiple reports. Looking to 2015, Duke has shown steady interest in both Jeter and Kennard, the No. 35 and No. 24 players in the class, respectively. Kennard, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Ohio, averaged about 40 points per game this season for Franklin High School. Adam Rowe from Blue Devil Lair spoke to Kennard's high school coach for some insight into his game. His coach will be on the visit with Kennard and his family and said Duke, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio State are the five schools he hears from most. Jeter, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Las Vegas, has also been a priority for Coach K and the Duke staff. His AAU coach told Zagsblog that "Duke loves Chase." The coach noted Duke is his only planned visit as of now, though Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA are also making a push. The most highly-rated 2015 recruit in town, however, will be No. 15 Brandon Ingram, a small forward from Kinston, N.C. Associate head coach Jeff Capel visited Ingram at the end of February. An in-state recruit, Ingram was also in town when Duke toppled Syracuse at Cameron. In terms of 2016 recruits, Giles—the No. 3 player in the class—highlights the crew. An in-state recruit from Winston-Salem, the 6-foot-9 power forward has seen a number of Duke games, including last year's Duke-UNC game at Cameron. Langford, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, ranks 13th in 2016 and is visiting, according to Blue Devil Digest. Duke has not been connected to Langford regularly, so interest on either side appears preliminary. 2016 point guard Dennis Smith Jr., a point guard from Fayeteville, N.C., will also visit unofficially. He is not ranked in ESPN's top 100.
In 38 seasons as the head coach of Syracuse, Jim Boeheim had never been ejected from a regular-season game until Saturday against Duke. Boeheim—a national champion, who holds the NCAA Men's Division I record for most wins all-time at one school—is no stranger to high-pressure situations.
In the first meeting between Duke and Syracuse this season, Rodney Hood drove in overtime with the Blue Devils down by one. Hit on the arm, Hood did not receive the foul call and missed his dunk attempt with 15 seconds remaining. Syracuse prevailed 91-89.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—“There was something missing,” Mike Krzyzewski said after Duke’s 74-66 loss to North Carolina.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the typical 9 p.m. Duke-North Carolina games in Chapel Hill, the Blue Devils go through their routine as if it were a home game. Like it would for a 9 p.m. home game, the team gathers at 5 p.m. for a pregame meal. Then, for a usual game, the players have some down time before the bus leaves for Chapel Hill at about 7:15, giving the team about an hour-and-a-half to warm up, said Mike Cragg, senior associate director of athletics for operations. But yesterday, the players weren't allowed to leave because the team had to "play it by ear" to see if and when they might depart for the Dean E. Smith Center. The plan was to have the 5 p.m. meal, have a quick walk through while they assessed the situation, Cragg said. The game was ultimately postponed and will be played Thursday, Feb. 20 at 9 p.m.
The Duke-North Carolina basketball game has been rescheduled to Thursday, Feb. 20. No game time has been set.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With snow coming down in the Triangle, Tobacco Road became that much more treacherous. Between that and an unranked Tar Heel team: Tickets to tonight's Duke-North Carolina game don't get any cheaper. As of last night, the average price to get into the 9 p.m. contest at the Dean E. Smith Center was $332, the cheapest since at least the 2010-11 season, according to Will Flaherty, communications director of SeatGeek.com, a website that gathers secondary market ticket data. Each of the last three meetings in Chapel Hill drew average ticket prices of at least $400. Today, the cheapest ticket is down to $75, cheaper than the $83 low point from last night, Flaherty said. The cheapest ticket for any ACC game at Cameron Indoor Stadium this season—which has included weaker opponents such as Wake Forest and Georgia Tech—has been $80. As of this morning, there were 33 ticket listings for tickets for less than $80 for tonight's game. Flaherty noted that even though the snowstorm has likely driven down prices, they were already cheaper than usual to begin with.Yaroslav Merkulov, a Duke senior, and two fellow Duke students are using the cheap tickets as an opportunity to get into tonight's contest. The trio bought three tickets this morning in the Dean Dome's Section 221 for $75 each. "I've been to a Duke-UNC game in Cameron and figured I'd have to give it a try at Carolina. This seemed like the best opportunity for that," Merkulov said in a text message to The Chronicle Monday. Merkulov added that he's not nervous about the snow. "I drive a Jeep and I'm from upstate New York and Russia," he wrote. "This isn't a bad snow."