Duke University head football coach Ted Roof and his staff announced on Wednesday that 22 student-athletes have signed national letters of intent to join the Blue Devil gridiron program. The class - Continue
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Wednesday, February 7
UNC at Duke
by
Mark Watson
on Wed 07 Feb 2007 01:11 PM EST
Before you throw the young Devils into the bonfire, consider just how close they came to being tied atop the conference. Close losses to VPI, Florida State and UVA were by a combined total of 5 points ... one bounce of the ball ... Anyhow, the powder blue Heels bring their talent laden roster into Cameron tonight for what is sure to be a hard fought affair.
Let them know it is our house! Leave it all inside. UNC is coming off an upset loss and that doesn't help, but Duke is hurting too and I look for a maximum effort on the Blue Devils part this evening. Much will depend on slowing UNC's twin towers Hansbrough and Wright, but it isn't as if the Heels depend on those two. Their roster is deeper than any team in the ACC, but they can only play five players at a time.
Cheer hard this evening. Let's shopw our spirit! Duke must value each possession, dive for the loose balls and simply not think too much. This UNC team is human, although I will be the first to admit that they are imposing. The Cameron Crazies should be on top of their game and I hope the upper deck is too. Our boys need support and they need it now. So, lets not leave a single unused scream inside.
K prepares his troops for tonights invasion! I see an upset and yes, I am indeed a homer - Duke by 1. Charting the stats -
The Dog Barks!
by
Mark Watson
on Wed 07 Feb 2007 03:15 AM EST
The Blue Devil Nation was thrilled to hear from Kenny Dennard, the subject of the recent trivia contest. The "Dog" is in town for the UNC game and I hope to make him submit to a future interview. Be sure to take a look at the download to get an idea of what this colorful character was like. From the e-mail ... dude...somebody sent me this link.... was at the FSU game yesterday and will be at the UNC game Wednesday...hope the Devils learn fast!!
A defining game in the Duke-UNC series
by
Mark Watson
on Wed 07 Feb 2007 02:05 AM EST
I have always felt as if I was lucky enough to experience one of the turning points in the K era. I am talking about the Duke UNC game that took place in Cameron on January 21st, 1984. Here is a mish mash of my thoughts as I stroll down memory lane. I talked with David Henderson and Bob Harris over the summer and got a few quotes from them as we revisted the game in our minds. There is also a K quote from a news and observer Q & A blog. Be sure to click the highlighted links in the article for some more fun. Going into the 1983-84 season, Mike Kyzyzewski was in his fourth year at Duke University. His teams had gone 38-47 in the three previous years and some Iron Dukes had started to call for his head. The year before Duke was thrashed by Ralph Sampson and Virginia in the ACC tournament 109-66. There was an ugly loss to Wagner in Cameron too. Those two games served as rock bottom for that Blue Devil team, but they would soon blossom. For all the growing pains Jay Bilas, Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie and David Henderson experienced, they had a few more to go before they realized they were the foundation of what would later be known as Mike's first great Duke teams. Coach K gathered his young forces and had a serious meeting of the minds after that UVA loss. He got their attention and the team rededicated themselves and were now ready to play the game his way. Flash forward to the 18th game of the 1984 season which was against arch rival North Carolina in then non air-conditioned Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke was coming off two tough games prior to the affair. One was a close loss to Maryland, the other was a thrashing to the hands of to Wake Forest. Still, Duke came into the game 15-3 and that was exciting for Duke fans that had thirsted for wins. The team had gone 11-17 the year before, so few bandwagon fans were in attendance on this evening, yet one fan who today leads an infamous cheer, admits he was still calling for K's ouster until ... After a quick start to the season, some fans wondered if the Wake loss going that preceeded the UNC game, signified that Duke had reverted back to it's old self. A fair amount of Alumni would give Coach K hell on every move. Thankfully for Duke fans, the fringe didn't run him off. He was about to show them why his team had stuck to it's man to man defense and it's motion offense. Nobody came close to beating Duke as bad as Wake had the rest of the season. The fans that had been critical started coming around. In fact, they wouldn't have a lot to whine about for the next twenty two years. So, back to that late January evening and the Duke-UNC game ... I was excited and determined to get a ticket for the sold out event. I arrived at Cameron two hours before the start of the game , and commenced to seek out tickets as did my friend. In typical scalper fashion of the time, the tickets were held right up until tip-off and that's when I luckily purchased one for 65.00, which was a fair amount of money then. My friend hadn't had any luck, as the sound of starting line ups could be heard in the background and I was ready to get in and immerse myself in the rivalries spirit, for the game was about to start. About that time a guy said he had one to sell, as he rushed to get in on the student side of Cameron, which at that time took general public entrants. It turned out he had to buy two to get one. I quickly persuaded him to sell me one for what he payed 60.00 and trade the other one so I could sit with my pal. He grimaced for a short time, thinking it was a scam, but then I showed him the seating charts and that mine was slightly better. I then said I'd buy him a drink, and he agreed and the three of us were off to our seats about two minutes into the half. As I walked through the corridor, there he was just down to our right, the infamous Dean Smith. His presence alone made ones blood rise if they were true blue. After all, his teams had a lot of success against Duke after Vic Bubas retired. If the sight of Dean weren't enough, a guy name Michael Jordan had just banked one off the glass and was running back down-court slapping hands with another future pro by the name of Sam Perkins. As Duke fans, my pal and I both felt like Duke was arriving on the scene and that's why this game was important to us. Believe me when I tell you that this game was not televised. You had to be there to see it. I'd often stop by Cameron and watch K's team practice back then and I can honestly say that I knew his man to man system would work once he got the players to run that system. When K took over for Bill Foster, there was little left beyond seniors, Gene Banks and Kenny Dennard. Despite Fosters reputation to rebuild a program, the cupboard had been left bare for the polish guy from Army, but he did take his first team to the NIT. I remember a publication called Inside Sports back then which featured an article on K's close recruiting misses. It told of how he barely missed out on Chris Mullin and Bill Wennington who went to St, Johns and Uwe Blab a huge Indiana target, but the author felt Duke would soon come around -- how prophetic. Anyhow, K soon landed the class which was on the court on this January 1984 evening. The class is special for me to this day, because they are the ones that started it all. I can even remember the exact moment I met Johnny Dawkins , a slender wide eyed youngster from D.C. who was a key recruit for K. I met him at the water fountain where the basketball lockers use to be, which now houses Womens Volleyball. I wished him luck on that day and he went on to have an illustrious career. Another key player in that class was Mark Alarie, a front line player with good ups and a great outside shot. He was eventually selected as the 18th pick in the NBA draft and had 39 double figure games at Duke. Johnny, went on to be the all time leading scorer at Duke, National POY, consensus All American and was selected 10th in the draft. Of course many of you know JD as the current Associate Head Coach. In those days, the NBA draft went six rounds, and David Henderson was selected 58th and Jay Bilas, now of ESPN went 108th. Looking at the aforementioned players accomplishments shows how special this class was. Michigan Coach Tommy Amaker also played in this game as a freshman. Okay, back to the Carolina game. It was nip and tuck the whole first half and then it happened. In a call that Deano didn't like, he walked to the Duke scorers table screaming while he pounded the scoreboard with his fist, knocking the clock haywire, actually putting points up on the scoreboard for Carolina. The crowd was going nuts and K immediately walked to the scorers table hands outstretched, shaking his head as no technical was called, and the whole time Smith was still showing his butt. The "Double Standard" was born then. Soon thereafter, UNC got some homer calls in that game, yet they were playing in Cameron. That along with some timely Steve Hale jump shots, saved the Heels as Dean, Jordan and Perkins and UNC escaped with a 78-73 win. Some Duke fans have speculated that Dean blew a gasket, knowing that Duke was beginning to close the gap between the two programs. He wasn't used to sharing the limelight, but that was about to change and whether he was aware of it is nothing more than conjecture. Coach K proved a determined fellow and wasn't going anywhere. Duke finished 14th in the country in 83-84. "I think that game, at that time proved to a lot of people including the Duke coaching staff and the players, who were all very young mind you, that they can compete with the best in the nation and that we are going to be a force to be reckoned with," said Duke play by play man Bob Harris. Dean eventually stepped aside after a brilliant career, but when he did, he knew Duke had caught up and nobody thought that possible. Yep, a bunch of sophs scared the pants off of Michael, Dean and company. They seemed to get some extra help with one of the most unbelievable no calls, of an obvious technical in the history of the ACC. Oh, and then the Duke bench got one a bit later. "Carolina was one of the top teams in the Nation with a lot of talent, including Jordan. We came out of the locker room believing we could win," said David Henderson. He went on, "we led for most of the game but came up short at the end. However we knew than we had what it took to be a really good basketball team. He was dead on there, as his senior season, Duke went 37-3, losing to Louisville in the National Championship game. "The beauty of it, was that we knew we were going to be together for a long time," said Henderson. That said, I can't help but think what the current freshman and sophomore players will look in the future and if they will learn similar lessons as they grow. When I pushed David if he thought the UNC loss was a turning point he said,"The UVA game (the tournament loss) carried more weight. That was as low as we could get.. That Carolina game was a huge stepping stone though." David scored 20 points in the UNC game and had the luxury of guarding Michael Jordan. "Yeah, I was trying to deny him as much as possible, because he was so talented. We were helping each other out a lot ... they still do that, but Carolina loved to run the backdoor on you then." Losing to a great team in a close game was eye opening for Henderson who stated "we saw what it took to be a great team and we wanted that. Coach K was pleased with our performance and the game was a beginning and we knew where we wanted to go and we were headed there," When asked of Deans outburst, he declined to answer. But Dean bashing the scoreboard, saying he was trying to get the officials attention alone does live in his memories. As for the double standard, I always thought he was talking about the officiating towards UNC and the league, but my pal Al Featherston has a slightly different take. Perhaps he will add his comments. Anyhow, I did find this quote from Coach K, “People use a lot of things against me but I’m fine with that. The night that I said that, there was one [a double standard] as far as technical fouls was considered. I regret that it [was taken like] that that’s the way it was all the time. I was angry and I said it. I’ll live with that. I’m fine with that.” I agree with you K and I think we were robbed on that evening. On this night one had to be in attendance to have witnessed Smith's scoreboard assault and the double standard, There was no ESPN to capture the action for all to see and regional television picked up every Duke-UNC game from that point on. Needless to say, it was a memorable night for me. Yeah, Duke and UNC game... if you get the opportunity, make it a point to witness one in person, for so many of these games live in our memories forever. Tracking K -- we've had it good! Collegiate Head Coaching Record:
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North Carolina Off vs.
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