Former athletic director Joe Alleva spent 32 years at Duke, and 10 as Director of Athletics. He considered himself a Blue Devil man, loyal to Duke. But in just two months in the same job at Louisiana State University, Alleva had some choice words that likely won’t sit well with Duke supporters.
“The passion for LSU is just phenomenal, it’s mind-blowing,” Alleva told The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune. “That’s the biggest difference.”
Reporter James Varney pressed him further, asking Alleva to compare the “passion” to that of Duke’s rabid basketball fan base.
“Even then, it’s not the same,” he said.
What do you think of Alleva’s statements? How does the passion of Duke fans relate to that of other fans?
Most importantly: Is Alleva simply saying what he needs to say to blend into the Bayou?
If Andre Dawkins is anything like a certain 1986 graduate with the same surname… well, it’s certain that Duke would take such production from its latest 2010 signee.
According to Blue Devil Nation and scout.com, Dawkins, a four-star shooting guard from Virginia Beach, Va., committed to Duke Thursday night after visiting and receiving an offer Monday. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound recruit also had offers from Clemson and Maryland and received interest from Georgetown and Wake Forest.
Dawkins is Duke’s first 2010 recruit, and he could lead to more. He became friends with four-star 2010 recruit Josh Hairston, a 6-foot-8 power forward from Spotsylvania, Va. It will be interesting to see the effect of Dawkins’ early commitment, both with Hairston and five-star 2009 shooting guard Kenny Boynton, who said in May that Duke was at the top of his list.
This is the last of five clips of a June 17 exclusive interview with Mike Krzyzewski that The Chronicle will post this week. In this excerpt, Coach K talks his “last big project” while coaching at Duke: the restoration of Cameron Indoor Stadium. Giving Cameron a facelift was mentioned as a hypothetical in “Unrivaled Ambition,” the athletic department’s strategic plan, and was met with some early resistance.
Make sure you leave your thoughts about potential Cameron renovations in the comments section below.
A quick scheduling note on this NBA Draft night: Duke will square off with Duquesne Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving, and the contest will be aired on espn2. The Dukes finished 17-13 last year and lost in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. It is believed to be their first televised game in more than 10 years.
Other known games for the Blue Devils next season include a game at the Meadowlands with Xavier, participation in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament in Madison Square Garden, an away matchup with Purdue in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge and home contests against Georgetown and Davidson. The entire schedule will be released in mid-August.
After wrapping up a highly successful weekend in which Duke landed three quality commitments, head coach David Cutcliffe and his Blue Devils are hoping to secure their second four-star recruit of the 2009 class.
Brennan Williams, a four-star offensive lineman ranked No. 13 in the nation by Rivals.com and a top-250 overall player, recently narrowed his list of possible schools from as many as 20 to just six. Duke is one of those remaining colleges, along with Boston College, Maryland, Michigan, Virginia and Wake Forest. Keep reading →
Tonight’s the first night that former Blue Devil DeMarcus Nelson could be a professional basketball player, as the NBA Draft takes place tonight at 7 p.m. in Madison Square Garden in New York. Nelson, a 2008 first-team All-ACC player and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, certainly was not expected to be drafted at this time last year. But after an impressive senior season, a hearty offseason workout regimen and some monstrous combine numbers, he’s put himself in the position to be a potential second-round pick.
NBADraft.net has pegged Nelson as the 60th and final pick in its mock draft, while DraftExpress has him going undrafted–which wouldn’t be the worst thing for the California native, as he could then pick to sign with a certain team that fit his rugged playing style.
We’ll keep you updated on DMarc’s draft status, but in the meantime, where do you think Nelson should be drafted? Where would you like to see him play?
This is the fourth of five clips of a June 17 exclusive interview with Mike Krzyzewski that The Chronicle will post this week (the last will come at midnight Friday). In this excerpt, Coach K talks about the growing politics of the 2008 Olympics and how he and Team USA will respond.
COMING FRIDAY: Learn more about what Coach K calls his “last big project” at Duke. Any guesses? Leave them in the comments section below.
This is the third of five clips of a June 17 exclusive interview with Mike Krzyzewski that The Chronicle will post this week (the rest will come at midnight every day). In this excerpt, Coach K details how he responds to criticism. Feel free to offer your thoughts below in the comments section.
COMING THURSDAY: HowCoach K and Team USA will deal with a politicized Olympics.
With the 2008 NBA draft only a few days away, there has been plenty of talk about the NBA’s draft eligibility age requirements. The league’s current rule requires players to be one year removed from high school graduation and at least age 19 in the calendar year of the draft to be eligible for selection. The latest news regarding the implications of this rule, however, seems to indicate that the newest path to the pros for top high school players might involve a passport rather than textbooks and a one-year campus stay.
Duke sophomore guard Nolan Smith played with Jennings for a season at Oak Hill, and when asked Monday if he had spoken to his former teammate about his future, Smith seemed to indicate that Jennings might not be bluffing on his plans to take his game abroad.
“I did talk to him last night after someone mentioned it to me,” said Smith, who will accompany best friend Michael Beasley in the green room of the NBA Draft Thursday night. “It is a possibility that he’ll go to Europe and stay over there for a year. He seemed excited about it. That’s a good experience, but I told him that he was going to miss the college life, but he can always go to a college campus and enjoy that every now and then. Europe would be cool.
Bundled with headlines in today’s Chicago Tribune about yesterday’s USA Basketball press conference, the inevitable 2008 Cubs World Series, and the daily Derrick Rose vs. Michael Beasley banter was this piece about finding a new athletic director at Notre Dame. In analyzing the difficulties of guiding one of the country’s most prestigious athletic departments, the story read more like postmortem No. 2 on the Kevin White Era in the land of the Golden Dome. The most interesting quote came from former ND athletic director-turned-Duke search consultant Gene Corrigan, who was reportedly the first person to reach out to White about the Duke position:
“It’s no secret Kevin was upset about that,” Corrigan said [of the firing of former head football coach Tyrone Willingham]. “He probably has turned down five jobs that would have paid him more money than he’ll get at Duke. He wasn’t running away from Notre Dame, but I think he was looking, and if the right thing came up, I think he felt like he would try it.”
Current LSU baseball head coach Paul Mainieri, who guided the program in South Bend from 1995 to 2006, said this:
“When you go to a place like Notre Dame that believes very strongly in a way to do things, you either adapt to the way Notre Dame does it, or you don’t work there.”
White doesn’t work at Notre Dame anymore, so it makes you wonder if the way he believes in doing things will ultimately lead him to find success at Duke.
This is the second of five clips from a June 17 exclusive interview with Mike Krzyzewski that The Chronicle will post this week (the rest will come at midnight every day). In this excerpt, Coach K responds to the common criticism of having former Blue Devil point guard Steve Wojciechowski’s as the team’s big-man coach.
COMING WEDNESDAY: How Krzyzewski responds to intensifying criticism of the 21st century.
CHICAGO — In a press conference held this morning at the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (yes, such a place exists, and yes, the coolest part is the Mario Andretti racecar mounted to the wall of the main entrance), USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo announced the roster for the team that will represent the U.S. in the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing. Although the announcement was mostly a formality, as many of the names had been leaked and confirmed preceding the event, Colangelo, head coach Mike Krzyzewski, Carmelo Anthony and hometown favorite Dwyane Wade answered questions from the media.
Both Krzyzewski and Colangelo reiterated the change in culture of the Olympic team–”It’s not an all-star team,” Krzyzewski said, “It’s a team, and we have to figure out a rotation”–and a more new-found respect for the international game that perhaps had been lacking in recent efforts. From the third place finish in the 2004 games to a shocking semifinal ousting by Greece in the FIBA World Championships in 2006, USA Basketball was forced to re-evalute the way it operated and the result is a collection of 12 players who have demonstrated the desire and commitment to represent their country over the past three years.
The roster includes Anthony, former Dukie Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Wade and Deron Williams. One of the more interesting moments was when Colangelo interrupted Krzyzewski to address a question about the future of USA Basketball and the level of interest of current big-name players. He was quick to call out both Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan as players who decided they were no longer interested in the experience of the national team, but he sounded a bit more bitter than frank. Coach K came back, though, by saying that while this team may not be big, it is quick on the perimeter, which is more conducive to succeeding in international play.
The team will practice in Las Vegas for two days in June and five days in July before traveling to China.
Every year, The Chronicle’s sports editor sits down with Mike Krzyzewski for an about an hour in the summer. This year, Ben Cohen met with Coach K June 17 to talk about everything from the Olympics and Duke to his succession and post-retirement plans. This is the first of five clips that The Chronicle will post this week (the rest will come at midnight every day).
In the first excerpt, Coach K explains why Duke struggled in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments last March, and how hard it was for him to see DeMarcus Nelson not match his season’s output in the postseason. Feel free to leave your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below.
COMING TUESDAY: Krzyzewski analyzes Steve Wojciechowski’s role as big-man coach.
