I spent 4 years at Duke and all I got were these t-shirts
(04/25/00 4:00am)
I could almost hear the slow, sad music in the background as I handed over my DukeCard and the guy asked, "Large or extra large?"
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I could almost hear the slow, sad music in the background as I handed over my DukeCard and the guy asked, "Large or extra large?"
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - For Jason Williams, there was nowhere to hide.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - They had the shots.
If they face the same Florida team Illinois did, the Blue Devils might see their season end in Syracuse after tonight's Sweet 16 game.
The men's lacrosse team might have topped its opponents in nearly every statistical category during a spring break road trip, but the Blue Devils came up short in the most important tally: the final score.
I know, I might as well call the Pope the second most important man in Catholicism. Sometimes, though, you just have to tell it like it is, even if it means alienating millions of worshippers, er, fans. Sure, Chris Carrawell had a fantastic season. And anyone with a television set, radio, computer or any other device within screaming distance of Dick Vitale knows Carrawell's had an even more fantastic career. But the player of the year isn't a career award. If it were, Ron Dayne and Ricky Williams would have both won the Heisman trophy. Ok, bad example. Let's look at the numbers. Carrawell's per game averages aren't too shabby: third in the ACC in scoring (18.0), ninth in assists (3.4), eighth in blocks (1.1). In fact, Carrawell finished in the league's top 10 in six categories. What could Battier possibly do to top that? How about finishing in the league's top five in six separate categories? He was fourth in scoring (17.6), fourth in free-throw percentage (82.3), fifth in blocks (1.9), fifth in steals (2.0), fifth in assist/turnover ratio and the tallest player since Wake Forest's Ricky Peral to lead the league in three-point shooting (46.5 percent). So Carrawell captured scoring, the glamour statistic. So what? In 28 games, Carrawell has outscored Battier by a whopping 10 points. He also took 39 more shots. Think Battier would have gotten 10 points out of an additional 39 shots? Advantage: Battier. Carrawell's a top-notch defender, but Battier is the nation's best-he won the Iba award as a sophomore and would have won it as a freshman were it not for another episode of seniority, in this case for Steve Wojciechowski. Advantage: Battier. You want leadership? How about team captain (as a junior), on-court drill sergeant, college basketball spokesman and chairman of the nation's first student-athlete congress? Advantage: Battier. Carrawell certainly had his clutch moments, but when Mike Dunleavy went down and took the Blue Devils' depth with him, it was Battier who carried Duke on his shoulders, even upstaging a worn-out Carrawell on his own Senior Day. He may not have hit game-winners, but he was the difference between nail-biters and easy wins. It's not the sentimental call, but it's the right one. Advantage: Battier.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Let's face it-Duke fans would adore men's basketball players no matter what the strength of their character is. But it's that much easier when the object of the admiration is fourth-year junior Nate James, who has battled through multiple setbacks to become a full-time starter on this year's team. Coming out of Washington, D.C. as a McDonald's All-American and Maryland's Gatorade Player of the Year, James ruptured tendons in his thumb and missed the first 14 games of the season. The following year brought an even worse calamity, a high left ankle sprain that limited him to 41 total minutes for the season and forced James to redshirt. In sophomore year take two, James finally had an injury-free season. However, his minutes were reduced by the abundance of future NBA lottery picks on one of the deepest and most talented Blue Devil teams ever. Over his first three years at Duke, James' statistics-4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds a game, and almost twice as many turnovers as assists-did nothing to help forecast a turnaround for next season. Yet James continued unfazed through all the setbacks, and his dedication paid off when he was named a tri-captain over the summer, despite having only one start to his name. "Whether you're short, tall, fast, slow, whatever, it always starts from within," said James, who has started all but one game this season. "Your heart and your determination will get you a long way. I think that's what has gotten me here today." Even when James finally made the starting lineup, he got a quick reminder that he hadn't accomplished anything yet. In the season opener against Stanford, James scored just one point in 30 minutes. "I think in terms of my first two regular season games, things were kind of new to me," James said. "The first two exhibition games I averaged 19 points, eight rebounds, so going into New York I was feeling good about everything. "But I didn't realize that teams scout, and take away certain things. I wasn't used to being a guy that people keyed on, and that took me for a loop. After New York, I realized that if I want to help this team, I have to be ready both physically and mentally, to try and be consistent. After that, I played a lot better and with a lot more confidence." One thing that James always seemed to have was toughness. Most fans remember the game last month against Wake Forest when he played 20 minutes despite battling an illness and looked on the verge of collapsing. But that wasn't the first time that James showed his character. James' first game back after his freshman thumb injury came against Tim Duncan and No. 2 Wake Forest. He scored 10 points in 19 minutes, a performance that brought strong compliments from Krzyzewski. "For a kid who's been out for six weeks and hasn't practiced, are you kidding me?" said the coach. "What a great game." Krzyzewski definitely raised some eyebrows by naming James a tri-captain. Sure, ACC player of the year candidates Chris Carrawell and Shane Battier. But James? Yet James, armed with a constant supply of inspirational advice, has served as a beacon of hope for his freshmen teammates, especially those sitting on the bench. All he has to do is point to his own experiences. "You may not accomplish all the things that you want to accomplish right now," James said. "But if you really stick with it, hang in there and don't get discouraged, you'll get the opportunity and things will work out. Just keep working and keep your persistence." Keep working-that would be James' motto. When asked what impression he wants to leave on the Duke faithful after he leaves school, James doesn't think twice. "'This is a guy who never gave up,'" James said. "Even though things didn't go my way at first, I kept at it. I think that's life. I think people will remember me as a guy who gave his all. If they can say that about me, that's what it's all about." Of course, James also wouldn't mind being known for reaching his ultimate goal. It's not being named captain, or being a full-time starter, or winning each year at Maryland despite all the jeers of "traitor" from the unforgiving Terps fans who cheered him on in high school. James has done all of that. He wants the championship. "My goal was never to come here to start," he said. "My goal was to come here to do the things I'm capable of doing, and to help my teammates win. That's the main reason I came here-the opportunity to win a championship." Before this year started, as player upon player left, James knew the team would still be fine. "I'm not surprised," James said of this year's success. "We have some good players on this team, whether they be upperclassmen or freshmen." After all, one way to counter a lack of experience is with all-out hustle and constant intensity. And James will be sure that those are not lacking. "Some of the games we've been losing," James explained, "we haven't put it all out on the court, we haven't given 110 percent, we haven't played a full 40 minutes of Duke basketball." And, when he said those words, his look made something clear-James isn't about to let that happen again.
Before he was universally known as Coach K, Mike Krzyzewski was nothing more than an unknown coach with a hard-to-pronounce last name.
Somewhere, Dean Smith is probably still wondering how you can leave open a guy who is 6-for-11 from three-point range. But you can bet Trajan Langdon isn't complaining.
The more than 9,000 fans packing steamy Cameron Indoor Stadium, the commentators in the TV booth, the players in home white-they all must have been thinking the same thing: This wasn't supposed to happen.
Coaches, players, analysts, they all say the same thing: when Duke and Carolina step on the court, throw out the records because you never know what's going to happen.
Georgia Schweitzer missed 13 shots from the floor. Rochelle Parent didn't hit a single field goal. Lauren Rice went 0-for-4 from three-point range.
CHAPEL HILL - The college basketball game that took place last night in the Dean Smith Center did not feature an unranked squad and the No. 3 team in the country.
The last nine days must have felt like a vacation to Chris Carrawell.
The only thing missing was another five minutes.
This wasn't a night when every shot found its way to the bottom of the net, when long, long-range three-pointers and acrobatic layups looked as easy as an uncontested dunk.
Seventeen times this fall, Ali Curtis found the back of the net for the men's soccer team, scoring as many goals as anyone in school history. Saturday, his offensive prowess earned him a place alongside the biggest stars ever to wear a Duke uniform when the junior forward became the fifth Blue Devil to win the Hermann Trophy as the top player in college soccer.
In a game that inspired talk of stadium deities influencing the final score, Nate James wasn't going to deny that Duke got some lucky bounces in Saturday's 84-83 win over No. 22 DePaul.
They accomplished so much-the undefeated regular season, the first-ever ACC championship, the top seed in the NCAA tournament-but right now it's hard for the Blue Devils to focus on anything but their one failure: the sole loss that ended their year long before they wanted it to.
The Chronicle celebrates one of Duke's most successful decades by honoring our top 10 Devils of the Decade. Each Tuesday, The Chronicle will feature one of the selected athletes. Today we profile athlete No. 2, Grant Hill.