Duke Blue Planet BLOG

You spent several years in Iraq while serving our country following your West Point graduation.  What was your role there?

Were you able to follow Duke Basketball over there?  How did you communicate back home?
Mike Schrage sent me all the DVDs of the games so I had a three-week delay, but I got to see every game that way.   The armed forces network over there would have a game here or there.  I remember specifically that year watching the Duke/Texas game at the Meadowlands when J.J. had a really good game.  I emailed frequently.  I didn’t have a whole lot of phone-call opportunities.

You saw and experienced things in Iraq that almost every American can’t imagine.  What have you take from those experiences?
The experiences have helped me in all facets of my life.  First of all, it puts important things into the ultimate perspective.  That was certainly the most adversity I’ve ever been a part of or been under and you have a different perspective on everything else you do in your life.  My attention to detail developed not only in Iraq but also in the service.  You learn to really embrace being part of something bigger than you, relying on the guy to your left and right, and being part of a unit.

How do the physical and mental challenges you faced playing Division I basketball while serving as a cadet compare and differ to what our players face at Duke?
I think that each made me better at the other.  I don’t want to upset our guys, but I make fun of them every so often about this.  There are a lot more demands on your life outside of basketball at West Point than there are here at Duke.  Your time is certainly more regimented, from everything to your appearance to the way you act and behave.  Your freedom is more limited.  Your life outside of basketball is definitely more regimented.  Being a part of the basketball team and a captain my senior year certainly helped me as a cadet as well.

Coach K has often talked about how West Point put him in positions where failure was the only the possible outcome and how those experiences ultimately made him better.  I feel like in some respects our players here deal with similar challenges because of the dynamic environment, outside expectations, and the rigorous media attention.  Are the situations similar at all?
I chose the pressure cooker I was under at West Point and understood what I was getting into.  I don’t think our guys coming in completely understand the pressure they are going to be under.  I think they end up liking it and thriving in it, but I don’t think they completely understand it initially.  It is different – the pressure I was under from the upperclassmen obviously is a lot different than what these guys are undergoing.  The one comparison I would make is something I shared with J.J. Redick when I came back on my mid-tour a couple of years ago.  Being a U.S. soldier in a foreign country that doesn’t completely want you there is similar to the scrutiny here.  Everyone is checking on what you are doing with an expectation of greatness and that you can handle anything.  You are comparing apples and oranges of course, but it is an interesting comparison in terms of scrutiny and what Duke players are expected to be when they may not be that.

How did you end up playing ball at West Point?  Is that something Coach K encouraged?
They wrote me a letter out of the blue after seeing me at a camp.  I had never thought about West Point.  No one in my family had been in the military.  They wrote me and asked if I wanted to play there.  I knew Coach at the time and that he had gone to West Point.  He and I talked about it on the phone – He obviously encouraged it and told me what to expect and what it would be like.  My goal growing up was to play Division I basketball and they were really the only DI school that was giving me serious interest.  My family couldn’t necessarily pay for college and the opportunity to go to college for free at such a great place was amazing.  The one thing Coach K always said about West Point – The opportunity to go such a prestigious place and have basketball serve as your avenue into that place is special and something you can’t pass up.  Ultimately, that was the decision I made.

Your initial connection to Duke Basketball was our summer camp.  Hailing from up north, what motivated you to come down here for camp and how did that lead to your meeting Jamie?
We started coming to camp when I was a freshman in high school.  My dad and my brother and I would go to two camps a summer — We’d go to Indiana when Coach Knight was there, and then drive from Indiana down here.  We lived in Massachusetts so this was our second stop.  My dad was a coach and we had great respect for the two coaches and the way they ran the programs.  Even before I was thinking about going to West Point, they were both West Point guys.  My brother was an Indiana fan and I was a big Duke fan and it just started that way.  We came here for three years, and I met Jamie as a rising senior.   She came to some of my camp games, we became really good friends, and eventually when I was at West Point we started dating.  It just went from there.

What are some of the unique values and standards emphasized at West Point that Coach K has worked to make a part of the Duke Basketball culture?
Standards are really important in the military because obviously there is a high standard for what we ultimately could be called to do.  I think the standards that exist in this program are a result of what he has done over the last thirty years.  There is a level of professionalism about being a soldier and an officer, and he certainly carries that to the way he approaches his job.  In general, his morals, his ethics, and his values are similar to those instilled in you at West Point and in the Army.

Even before starting your job, you had a detailed understanding of Duke Basketball and a great relationship with Coach K.  That said, is there anything that has especially impressed you now that you have worked here for a year?
The biggest thing that has impressed me is the great people he has brought in.  You are surrounded by talented individuals who can do their jobs very, very well.  As a result, there is almost a standard that things are done even before he ever has to ask for it.

Talk about your relationship with Coach K and how working for him has impacted that.
It’s funny, when I played in high school for my dad, people would ask me about that too.  I said I had a relationship with my father that a lot of people don’t have with their fathers.  I’d say the same thing about working with Coach K and being on his staff.  I have a relationship with him as a father-in-law that most people don’t get to have with their father-in-law.  I knew him before I knew Jamie and so we have always had a basketball side to our relationship, but being his employee has opened up a whole other side.  One of the great things I have found about working for him is he empowers you to use your talents and gives you the freedom to do your job.

What made you realize you wanted to get into coaching?
I’ve known for a long time I wanted to teach.  Basketball has given me a lot in life.  It has brought me to my wife, it has given me a free education, and it has allowed me to serve my country.  At the end of the day, the best way for me to be a teacher was to go into coaching.  Serving as a graduate assistant at the greatest college basketball program is a special, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I am very appreciative of.  I love being able to teach a game that has given me a lot.