Listen to Duke Head Coach Ted Roof Audio here on the upcoming game with Richmond. 

 Coach Roof looks on as his young Devils prepare for Richmond.  He talks with Duke play by play man, Bob Harris in the above link.

Duke target Kyle Singler will compete in NYC, in one of the more unique All Star events.  For more on Kyles upcoming official visit with Duke and an interview with the star high school player, join the Blue Devil Nation Premium Newsletter and get all the latest on Duke Basketball recruiting and much more.  By doing so you help support this sites continued growth and the information is as accurate as it gets.  There is a reason we are ranked the second best college basketball blog site behind ESPN.  Here is how to Join.

 Premium newsletter will cover Kyle as he visits Duke, as well as the latest on Patrick Patterson.

Duke will take on the 15th-ranked I-AA Richmond Spiders . Kickoff at Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium is set for 6 p.m this Saturday.  The game will feature a Nascar theme and added activities for the first night game in several seasons.

Richmond went on a seven-game regular season win streak,- which led them to a the Atlantic 10 title and a berth in the NCAA I-AA Playoffs. Richmond eventually lost to Furman. The Spiders return nine offensive starters who accumulated a school-record 4,957 yards of total offense.

The defense is supposed to be the strongest area for Duke, but an experienced Richmond team will not back down.  Duke must be ready to win the battle of turnovers and keep the Spiders from making too many big plays.

Richmond also returns seven starters from a defense that ranked among the nation's Top-25 against the run, allowing just 120.1 yards per game.  They will provide a strong challenge as Duke breaks in a bevy of new starters up front.

Richmond is under the direction of third-year head coach Dave Clawson, who has compiled a seven-year career record of 41-41 and a 12-12 mark in two seasons at Richmond. 

Ted Roof begins another rebuilding year, but not without some areas which could prove to be strengths.  Duke should have better skilled players this season and it will be important for a play maker to step up.

 Wallace Wade awaits fans, where football begins for real this Saturday at 6:00.

Links-

Richmond star Running Back Tim Hightower says the Devils are overlooking his team in this audio clip.

This is a Durham Herald link on Clifford Harris and how Katrina effected his life.

Here is a link from the Richmond Dispatch who say the Spiders will lean on their Defense.

Greensboro writer says Duke hoping to defy expectations.

He is my pal, Ski Hat Guys preview of the game and what he thinks might happen.

One of my favorite current writers for The Chronicle, Michael Moore, has a feature posted on Kevin Cassesse, the former Blue Devil lacrosse star and the former (temporary) head coach who stepped up to replace Mike Pressler until the Coach Danowski was hired.

The latest with Redick and his D.U.I.

Former Duke star J.J. Redick will plead guilty to charges stemming from a June 13 DUI arrest, according to court documents released Tuesday.

"It's not over with," Redick told The Chronicle Wednesday. "Once everything gets sorted out, I definitely will be relieved."

Redick would not elaborate further on the specific legal issues and his lawyer, Donald Beskind, declined comment through an assistant.

Beskind sent a letter to Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong Aug. 17 stating his client's intention to plead guilty, and Nifong penned his initials on the letter, according to the court records.

Redick's case had previously been set for yesterday's docket, but the case will be continued to Oct. 24, at which point the plea will be heard.

The Chronicle reports today that the public relations firm Edelman has been named to help "publicize positive aspects of the University."

Says John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs, "I feel pretty strongly, especially in this post-lacrosse environment, that we need to have more clarity in our messages about Duke's distinctive strengths and the wisdom and discipline to emphasize them with clarity. Edelman presented an exceptionally strong situational analysis to our group and is well known for placing a heavy emphasis on research-driven communications."

Team USA defeated Germany with a good defensive effort.  Here is the  RECAP.

It's next opponent, Greece had little trouble defeating France.

Post -  Video

BOX Score

Shane Battier on Dirk-

"I think I got lucky. He doesn't have too many nights like that. I didn't do anything special. I tried to get under him and - in the international game, you are allowed to be a little more physical than you are in the NBA. I just tried to make him work for shots. He had a couple, where he just missed. He's still one of the best players on the planet in my book."

MEDAL ROUNDS

August 27: USA 113, Australia 73 August 30: USA 85, Germany 65 August 31: Classification Semifinals September 1: Medal Rd. Semifinals September 2-3: Finals

Note: The 2006 FIBA Men's World Championships will take place in Japan from Aug. 19 - Sept. 3. The United States will play its preliminary round games at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Sapporo City, Hokkaido. Full Schedule | Television Coverage

A  prominent magazine has ranked Duke the 14th best place for an education for African Americans. Here is a link from the Duke Chronicle from Black Enterprise Magazine.  It is a testament to the diversity at Duke University.

Duke was actually higher on another list last year, but judging from a balanced magazines perspective, the ridiculous, unproven attacking accusations towards the University continue to come into the light known as truth.

Alana Beard, one of the best to play basketball in Cameron Indoor, has returned to Duke to train with her teammates on the U.S. National team. The thing is, she's having a hard time keeping her peers entertained in Durham:

"Everybody's like, 'AB, what's here?' I'm like, 'Guys, I honestly don't know because the four years I was here, I never went out,''' Beard said. "My nights in the bar was in Cameron.''

Excellent reporting by The Chronicle.

The University will hire a public relations firm to help identify Duke's distinguishing characteristics and ways to promote them, John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, confirmed Monday.

The decision to hire a firm, made several weeks ago, comes in the wake of claims of rape against three members of the 2005-2006 men's lacrosse team and the national media spotlight that followed.

A firm has been chosen for the job, but because a contract has not yet been signed, Burness declined to identify it.

"We've been sort of struggling with, 'How do we distinguish what is unique and characteristic of Duke?,' 'What distinguishes us from other Universities?," Burness explained.

"These are the kind of questions we ask ourselves all the time, but it sometimes makes sense to ask someone else the same set of questions."

Dick Biddle was a stud football player for the Blue Devils back in the day--he was All-ACC two consecutive seasons--and is now thriving on the gridiron as the head coach of Colgate.

He was among a handful of finalists to fill the vacancy after Carl Franks was fired in 2003.

I reported this story for The Chronicle at the time, and I remember speaking briefly to Biddle over the phone. At the time, Biddle told me he was yet to be contacted by Duke, but that he would "certainly listen" to what Duke had to say.

I've been thrilled with Duke's choice of Ted Roof, but regardless, it's always heartwarming to learn about Duke alums doing well as is the case with Biddle at Colgate.

We will be discussing the Blue Devil Memorabilia collecting world in the next year or ten, or however long BDN is alive.  I will be discussing what Sports Illustrated are worth and will go into cards, yearbooks, autographed items, as well as game worn items and much more.  If you have any questions as to what something is worth or have a really cool item, email me a picture or question at watzoneBDP@gmail.com.  We will also offer a few items at reasonable prices from our vast collecting archives.  I have scoured the country since the 80's in pursuit of Duke Collectibles and was a player in the memorabilia industry in it's heyday.  I use to contribute regularly to Beckett Publications and I will use all my resources to add a unique feature.  You will eventually hear from collectors Bob Harris and Chip Engelland a former player now coaching with the San Antonio Spurs.  There will be a section where you can purchase duplicate collectibles I have obtained, or simply educate yourself on what is available and popular.  We want to know what is in your archives and yes we do some traditional buying and trading too.  It's a fun hobby.

You are looking at an early 70's Topps Basketball Insert

In the fantastic New Yorker story linked below, the author concludes with this passage, which is highlighted by Brodhead's ruminations on the reaction to the accuasations.

Brodhead reflected on all that had happened as we chatted in his office in July, and said that it brought to mind Shakespeare’s “Othello”—not for its obvious associations with interracial passions and violence but for its lesson on prejudgment. The scene at the beginning of the play, he said, was particularly instructive. Desdemona’s father hears about his daughter’s relationship with the Moor, and he sighs, “Belief of it oppresses me already.”

“He doesn’t say, ‘Oh, now I see what you’re getting at,’ ” Brodhead said. “He’s saying, ‘Now I realize that I always believed it’—‘Belief of it oppresses me already.’ It’s probably, to my mind, the greatest literary image of the action of prejudice—how a story is told to engage something in the mind that brings with it absolute certainty that derives from the nature of the stereotypes.”

He had located a clarifying point of reference in the lacrosse ordeal, and he became animated. It had been a headlong narrative, driven partly by a willingness to affirm favored certitudes about justice.

“ ‘Belief of it oppresses me already,’ you know?” he continued. “And the thing is, we actually can’t blame people for being subject to this, because it is so deeply human. And if, from day to day, we’ve seen people in the throes of this, we recognize that as a dimension of our humanity. At the same time, it really is our obligation to resist it, because, you know—truth and justice, they are cant phrases unless we try to take the trouble to make them have a reality to them. And what do truth and justice mean? Truth and justice mean something opposite from our preconceptions.”

In the wake of the lacrosse scandal, while attending a meeting related to my job, a president of an Ohio university asked me, "So how much does this diminish the value of your degree?"

The notion is a silly one, of course.

To assuage any concerns, however, that Duke's scandal had somehow managed to scare off the uber-qualified applicants to Trinity and Pratt, consider the 2010 class profile.

These numbers are unbelievable, and something to make all of us Duke alums proud.

There is certainly much work to be done on campus, and many issues to grapple with rather than to suppress--issues that have been raised in the wake of the lacrosse imbroglio. Let us hope that these new freshmen have the courage and wherewithal to face the problems head on to help propel Duke ever forward, which would result only in a better environment for Duke's students now and in the future.

The New Yorker--the best-written journalism publication in the country--has a lengthy piece up on Duke and its lacrosse program, and its culture as a whole.

Unfortunately, the computer I'm currently using prevents me from linking the story and photos here, but I can include a quote from a Duke professor, Orin Starn, discussing President Richard Brodhead's behavior during the summer romance between Coach K and the Los Angeles Lakers:

>>“What you saw there was the lay of the land,” Orin Starn, a Duke professor who specializes in the anthropology of sports, recalls. “The fact is that it’s the basketball coach, Coach K, who’s the most powerful person at Duke, and in Durham, and maybe in North Carolina—much more powerful than the college president himself. So Brodhead—I mean, there was almost this kind of ritual humiliation, this ritual obeisance, or fealty, that was required of him.”

Further along in the piece is this quote from Brodhead. Brace yourself: The man is a genius.

>>“If you go back and read the Odyssey, who is Odysseus?” ‘Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending.’ And his ways of contending are intellectual, and they’re strategic, and they’re political, and they’re athletic. And so it seems to me that that would actually be at the foundation of it—it’s the image of excellence. I’m not saying that I would embrace athletics on any terms. But that’s its relevance. And then you have to couch it in the right terms, to have it be consonant with the other values of the university. There are other things as well. It’s about working in teams, about learning to do things together that people can’t do alone. The metaphorical value of sports is actually quite deep, when you stop and think about it. Our culture doesn’t ask us often enough to think about it."

Here's hoping Brodhead's in charge for decades to come.

The file's attached.

Enjoy.

One of the Blue Devils main targets, Patrick Patterson was rumored to potentially be joined by O.J. Mayo , a top ten prospect at Huntington High, which has won back to back state titles. The duo would be joined by Chris Early, who earlier committed to former Dukie Jeff Capel and Oklahoma. Speaking of Capel, we had a wonderful interview with him not too long ago.  Here it is.

Update: The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Mayo is in class today at his current high school, North College Hill.

North College Hill basketball star O.J. Mayo was in class at NCH Monday morning, amid rumors that he was about to transfer to Huntington High School, W.Va.

"I have no idea where these reports come from, but I talked to O.J. just this morning in my office," NCH athletic director Joe Nickel told The Enquirer today. "He has always been enrolled here, and I can confirm he is in class today."

A Huntington area TV station, citing unnamed sources, reported Sunday night that Mayo would enroll at Huntington High today.

Huntington High officials told the Huntington Herald-Dispatch that Mayo could still enroll at the school later today, but as of this morning, Mayo was still in Cincinnati at NCH...

Mayo's basketball career began in West Virginia before he moved to Kentucky, where he played varsity basketball as a seventh and eighth grader. He then moved across the river where he has starred for then-innocuous North College Hill, which subsequently became the best basketball team in Ohio, inheriting the throne from Lebron James' St. Vincent-St. Mary out of Akron.

What'll happen next? Wait and find out...

This review has been penned by one Bill Ingram of Hoopsworld.com. I'm checking into his background right now, but regardless, he seems to be a fan of Coach K's latest book.

Whether you're a fan of college hoops, the NBA, or Team USA, you're sure to find pearls of wisdom that can help you appreciate the game just a little bit more. For that matter, Krzyzewski's tips about life might enhance other areas for his readers, too.

Former Dukie Shane Battier hit 4 of 5 three pointers as Team USA cruised past Austrailia today. Here is the game recap.   The USA will take on Germany next and it's scoring leader Dirk Nowitzki.

 Shane Battier-

On a defensive specialist for the team shooting so well from the three-point line ...

"Well, I have a lot of confidence in my shooting ability. I think that if I’m open, I can make a few. My role on this team is just to play hard, be a good team guy. If the teams are focusing on LeBron (James), Carmelo (Anthony) and (Dwyane) Wade, the other guys around them can hit shots. That has been my mind-set every game. (Coach Krzyzewski adds: “He still holds the record at Duke for most three-point shots made in a game. He can shoot the three.”

Elton Brand-
About his play today ... 

"Everybody has to do what he has to do when he gets the opportunity out there. Our depth is one of our advantages in this tournament. We have a lot of guys who are very capable at each position. When everybody is playing and playing well, that’s when we expect to win."

USA - Australia Game Box

USA Cumulative Statistics

Photo Gallery

FIBA World Championship Results / Schedule

The Duke Men opened the season with a 5-2 victory over visiting Hartford.  Joe Germanese got the Devils on the board after a slow start and Michael Videria added two more goals in the win.  The twelth ranked Devils play St. Francis on Sunday at 7:30 at Koskinen Stadium.

 Goal!

A few PICTURES are located here.

Follow the link for photos.   more »

The Blue Devils' best fall sports team yet to win a national title will begin its 2006 quest tomorrow when it hosts the Louisville Cardinal on East Campus.

Head coach Beth Bozman, courtesy GoDuke.com, had this to say: "I think our expectations are pretty high considering what we came off of. These girls have been to three previous championship games. I think the team is in great shape right now as far as playing for each other, the skill level and where everyone's head is. We're excited to get started this weekend."

I would imagine that many of you have but a passing interest in field hockey, but I assure you, it's a captivating sport, and no one in the NCAA plays it better than the Blue Devils. If you live in Durham, head out to the game on Saturday.

This writer at Sports Illustrated has decided that the United States basketball team is doomed.

Okay.

Let's check out his substantiation:

Do I think they stand a chance against Argentina? Not even a little.

That's what it's all about, really. Argentina....

The truth is, Team USA has fallen into the same trap it did at the 2004 Olympics. It runs no plays. And if it has set offenses, it never uses them. It still runs isolation plays on nearly every possession. It has no shooters, a weakness that will be exposed when the competition improves.

...

The Americans might be able to run every team out of the building. They have the talent to do it. But if they would run an offense, an effective offense that puts every player in motion and utilizes the team's superior size and athleticism, it would guarantee a victory. Maybe not a lopsided victory, but a win nonetheless.

The U.S. should take the next few days and learn an offense. Any offense. Run the triangle if you have to. It's the only way you can win in international competition. Pound the ball in the post with LeBron James and Dwight Howard and open up lanes for slashers like Dwyane Wade and Anthony. Utilize Brad Miller in the high post. Set a screen for someone not dribbling the ball. Pretend an NBA playoff berth is on the line.

As it stands, the Americans seem either unwilling or unable to make that commitment. They continue to be indifferent when defending the three-point line. Wait until Manu Ginobili and Andres Nocioni start teeing them up. They think they can run everyone else out of the building. Doesn't work when Argentina plays defense like a hockey team, dropping two defenders back after every shot. As the old saying goes, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

Cute. Ah, it's got to be fun trying to seize attention by swimming against the stream for no other reason than to attract attention to oneself.

I wouldn't have a big problem with this writer, except for the opening paragraph of the piece which elucidates the author's true intentions: "Warning: The following column contains pessimism and player-hating to the highest degree."

This isn't how you begin a critical piece of analysis. This is how you speak to those whom you are trying to provoke into reading your column; this is how you try to cultivate anger and attention. For some journalists, that's the bottom line.

In the meantime, I'll stick to trusting the interpretations of those who are able to provide a sound analysis aimed at informing, rather than trying to elevate a low readership.

The New York Times published a front-page story on the lacrosse imbroglio this morning.

I'm busy at work today, but am in the process of combing it with a red pen. Check in later this afternoon for a breakdown/critique.

Thanks for making us the third rated College Basketball Blog on this list.  Considering ESPN is first, we consider ourselves in good company.

We will have to work on our football and other sports now;)  We sorta hate to be pegged.

We were ranked first here after our second month, but we have fallen a spot, so we will try harder. 

Seriously, Corey and I would like to say thanks for making us a part of your day.  It's been a fast paced three months since we started and we never thought the site would grow as it has.  

Thanks again!

Team USA Advances, quotes and links below.

Coach K Quotes-

"I think these guys are very unselfish. Certainly in the game against Italy, three guys stepped up big. Carmelo was sensational but so was Dwyane Wade and Elton's toughness and experience really benefited us, so everyone has been stepping forward. Whether it be LeBron, Shane, Chris Paul, Kirk Hinrich, Joe (Johnson)… the big guys."

I'm going to have to explain that to all of our players. It's ‘one and done' and this is not a seven-game NBA series. We have to be ready for each ballgame. The best way to get ready is to play defense at the start of each ballgame. We've done a good job defensively. Hopefully, we'll pick that up even more, now that we're going on to Tokyo."

LINKS, Courtesy of  USA Basketball

Game Box

More Quotes

USA Cumulative Statistics

Photo Gallery

FIBA World Championship Results / Schedule

USA World Championship Roster

When I called Patrick Patterson last evening, a UNC AC had just left a message and the Heels were  trying to get back in.  According to Mrs. Patterson, after thinking it over, Patrick has decided not to add them to his final list of schools.

Williams and AC Steve Robinson had made several calls and Patterson had considered their overture, but made his decision today.

There will be an article up on the very latest on Patrick Patterson early Thursday.  There is some new information and the possibility of a seventh school in the race for his services.  That school being North Carolina. It will be a good read and you will only see it here.

How do I join the Blue Devil Nation Premium/Newsletter? HERE

1) While it has been considered that Coach K's position on Team USA will improve recruiting domestically, I think we're yet to consider the potential international impact it could have on Duke's ability to bring in top-flight international players, as well.

2) The men's soccer team is due for another national championship, and all the tools are in place for it to happen. Karma is on Duke's side, as well--it's the 20th anniversary of Duke's 1986 title win over Akron University, and it would be a helluva way to help bookmark the hall of fame career of head coach John Rennie. (I've no reason to believe that Coach Rennie is going to retire anytime soon, I'm merely suggesting that now's as good a time as any to win another NCAA title).

3)  Ted Roof is the right man to be leading the football program at this juncture. He's done tremendous things on the recruiting trail, and is running the program the right way. The upcoming season could prove to be as difficult as the last, and the calls for his firing would inevitably be loud should Duke win less than 3-4 games in '06. I hope that the virtue of patience wins the day, however, because Coach Roof has the process down--it's just a matter of time before the product on the field is up to par.

4) As much as I love college basketball, there's nothing quite like football Saturdays.

5) There's an interesting Q+A with the sports editor of the New York Times over at the paper's web site. It's the continuation of a series in which readers have lobbed questions at various NYTimes editors, who have in turn posted responses online. Of note is the editor's response to a question regarding the coverage of the off-field shenanigans of athletes:

One wonders what Earl Warren would say these day. As a Supreme Court justice, he famously said: "I turn to the sports section first. The sports section records people’s accomplishments; the front page nothing but man's failures."

I suspect it's more about money than changes in morals. Or, at least, the influx of money in sports is the biggest influence on morals. When a lot of money is at stake, more people are likely to behave badly.

I can appreciate the sense that sports coverage no longer has the "Boys of Summer" fairy-tale feeling, but that's true of life in general and I suspect we're better off for it.

By the way, it's not just sports that is covered in an unvarnished way these days. Don't forget that journalists once looked the other way at many indiscretions of politicians and celebrities — and that's no longer the case either.

There are several levels to your question. Television and the Internet have made athletes and all of the other public figures that much more public. Many readers want to know all about the lives of such celebrities, as the success of People magazine proves.

But there's also a more serious journalistic purpose. The connection of money and power creates influence, and one of our roles is to be a watchdog on the influential. Sports figures are role models, they direct charities, they take part in politics and they even play a part in the development of cities and regions by the placement of teams and stadiums.

So, the line that used to exist between off-field and on-field stories was blurred and then obliterated quite a while ago. Our judgment is more about the relative significance of what goes on off the field and whether it's important to our readers.

This is noteworthy for various reasons, but most specifically because of the recent allegations made against members of the men's lacrosse team. The rape allegations aside, one of the bits of information that raised eyebrows was the fact that 1/3 of the team had been charged (though not necessarily found guilty of) various minor crimes, mostly related to alcohol. This was news to most people.

Had a basketball or football player been charged as such, it most certainly would have worked its way into the news cycle. Is it more or less newsworthy? The media would lead us to believe that it is, perhaps as the NYTimes' editor explains: "Our judgment is more about the relative significance of what goes on off the field and whether it's important to our readers." The extrapolation, then, is that the transgressions of an Olmpic-sport athlete are less important to readers than those of the members of a high-profile team. This certainly makes sense, from a business standpoint, and I suppose from a journalistic standpoint, as well--but I'd contend that the latter point is debatable.

6) I ran into a former Clemson basketball player the other day at Lowe's--he's now the head varsity basketball coach at a Columbus-area high school. He had coached against me back when I played against his team, so I re-introduced myself and we made small talk for a short while. When I told him where I'd gone to college, he said, "Boy, Coach K really has something going down there. He's a great guy, a real class act, despite what everyone says." He proceeded to tell me that, back when he played in Cameron Indoor in the 1970s, it was every bit as challenging an environment as it is today.

"Those kids were just mean, mean, mean and loud, loud, loud," he said.