This year’s theme for the Emily K Center student projects and activities is most appropriate: “Team.” It was the focus of the Emily Kronicle literary magazine and the theme of the holiday gathering hosted at the Center for students and their families on a Friday evening in early December.
In the world of Duke Basketball, “team” is always an important word but, for some reason, this year it feels even more special. Perhaps it is because Team USA came home from Beijing in August with gold medals and showed the world that even the best athletes in the world are made better when they willingly subscribe to all that it means to be a part of something bigger than them.
As I read through the stories, poems, and dialogues that the students had written about teams for the Kronicle, I was impressed by the understanding that they seemed to already possess about what a team is and how effectively they were able to convey that understanding through their words. One thing I was most impressed with was how many students referred to their family as a team. Indeed, for Duke Basketball, the words “family” and “team” have always been interchangeable. Even at this early stage in their lives, the students at the Emily K Center already seem to comprehend this notion. Third grader Teymi wrote at the end of her story about a family beach trip, “My team is my family and we care for each other.” Similarly, a sixth grader named Deshaun wrote in his poem about team, “My most important team is my family. We work together everyday. Everyone has an important role on the team. We achieve everything together. And alone we can do so little but together we can do so much.”
In addition to making the mature observation that a family is the most important kind of team, Deshaun had some very insightful things to say about what being on a team is really about, “A team is group of people that work together. A team is where everyone gets a chance. A team is where you lose and achieve together.” Deshaun already grasps the concept of the collective responsibility that comes with being on a team a term that Coach K has always defined with the phrase, “We win and we lose together.” Both of these young students were asked to read their compositions as a room full of hundreds of their peers and family members listened. They were poised and confident both in their words and the way in which they delivered them.
I have been thinking a lot about the many different kinds of teams that exist. The ones we are all on, the ones we work for every day, and the ones whose missions we support from afar. Of course, the USA Olympic Basketball team has been on my mind since our return from China in August. Their task was an extremely important one for the future of basketball in the United States. Their work in achieving their goal is to be lauded, the Olympic gold medal being the most prestigious honor in the world of sport. But what Team USA accomplished is not more important than what the Emily K Center team works towards every day. Maybe there is a future LeBron James or Kobe Bryant among the Pioneer Scholars. That would be wonderful. But I hope there are also future teachers, and doctors, and dancers, and writers. I hope that the students at the Emily K continue to dream big and to dream different and I know that they will feel the strength of support of the Emily K Center team behind them all the way.
Become a Part of The Team
This holiday season, Coach and Mickie Krzyzewski’s gift to their family will be the gift of giving to the Emily K Center. This is the perfect time to join the team by participating in the newly established Dream-Do-Achieve Gift Club. A gift at any level will be recognized with a unique Emily K Thank You card and each successive gift level will be recognized with a special gift from Coach K and the Emily K Center.
This holiday season, Coach and Mickie Krzyzewski’s gift to their family will be the gift of giving to the Emily K Center. This is the perfect time to join the team by participating in the newly established Dream-Do-Achieve Gift Club. A gift at any level will be recognized with a unique Emily K Thank You card and each successive gift level will be recognized with a special gift from Coach K and the Emily K Center.
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Contribution
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What Your Donation Can Accomplish
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Recognition Gift
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$100
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Purchase books and supplies for the Pioneer Scholars
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-EKC Thank You Card
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$250
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Sending a student to a skill- building summer camp
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-EKC Thank You card
-Signed Coach K photo
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$1,000
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Funding a student’s participation in a 5-week Summer Scholars program
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-EKC Thank You Card
-Signed Coach K Basketball
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$6,000
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Partially funding the Emily K’s student recognition ceremony
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-EKC Thank You Card
-Signed Coach K Photo
-Signed Coach K Basketball
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$10,000+
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Fully funding a student in the Emily K Center K To College programming
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-EKC Thank You Card
-Signed Coach K USA Basketball jersey
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Donations can be mailed to the Emily K Center at 903 West Chapel Hill Street Durham, NC 27701 or can be made online at www.emilyk.org. The Emily Krzyzewski Center is a 501 (c)(3) organization and your gift is fully tax deductible.
28thOct
Jon and Gerald Visit Literacy Night at Easley Elementary
Posted by DBradley under Center of the Universe
Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson visited Durham’s Easley Elementary on the evening of November 3rd to support the school’s Literacy Night. The junior captains spoke to the students, read a book, answered questions about reading, study skills, academics and basketball, and posed for some photos. The event was Duke Basketball’s eighth Read With the Blue Devils elementary school visit of the year.
It was an exciting time for our team last week as we were finally able to start practice, have our Blue-White Scrimmage and then play our first exhibition game of the season. As a staff, we were all looking forward to getting started with the beginning of practice. We are only allowed 2 hours per player of individual work per week in the preseason, so the opening of practice really allows us to begin to build our team. Over the past week, we have been able to start to put in our offensive and defensive systems, as well as begin to define roles and mix and match lineups. All of our players came into the start of practice in great shape. Our strength and conditioning team, headed by William Stephens, did a fantastic job of building our guys’ bodies up for the rigors of a long season. We are excited and believe that this year’s team is one of the most veteran, deepest and talented teams that we have had in quite a few years. Both the players and the coaching staff hold high expectations for the potential of this group.
The other great thing about the past week was giving the players two different opportunities to play in front of a packed house in Cameron Indoor. It’s one thing to be able to practice hard and well, but totally different to be able to perform when the lights go on. In only our 2nd day of practice, we held our annual Blue-White scrimmage. We decided to play two separate 15 minute games and switch the groups at the end of the first. The Blue-White game is always a fun event for the players and fans, as everyone gets a first glance at this year’s Duke team. It is also very special for the freshman class as it is their very first game in front of the Cameron Crazies. Overall, we were very pleased with the performance of the guys. Obviously, it is still very early in the season and we have a lot to improve upon, but each of the guys showed glimpses of what everyone can hope to expect. Both the White and the Blue teams each came away with a victory on the day. Coach Wojo and Coach James coached the White teams and Coach Spatola and I handled the Blue. Maybe the best part of the day was having the football team walk through Cameron on their way to the stadium to play Miami. The fans gave them an unbelievable reception when they arrived.
After using the rest of the week to continue to work hard and improve, we had a chance over the weekend to have our first exhibition game of the season. The NCAA allows all Division I teams to hold up to 2 exhibition games that can be played against Division 2 or 3 opponents. For us, our first game was against Virginia Union. VA Union is a program that has had a tremendous amount of success throughout the years. They have won alot of championships on the Division II level and have alumni that have included NBA stars Charles Oakley and Ben Wallace. We were excited to have the opportunity to play them. Our whole staff was very happy with the effort of our team. Our motto for the game was “Play every play hard”. We felt like we accomplished our goal. It was a little sloppy early on the offensive end, but a lot of that was attributed to the guys being anxious to play and make things happen. Our defense was very strong as we held VUU to 17 points in the first half. We were able to settle in offensively and finish the game with a 114-50 victory. The best part of the VUU game was being able to get everyone on the team valuable game experience, especially the freshmen. It also gave Coach K a chance to experiment with different lineups as we continue to figure out what is going to be best for our team. Overall, 11 guys played 10+ minutes and 6 guys scored in double figures. We were proud of how the guys approached the game.
Now, we have the next 10 days to continue to practice and build our habits. We have our final exhibition game on Nov 5th against Lenoir-Rhyne before we begin the regular season on Nov. 10th against Presbyterian. Hopefully, all of you can check us out and watch us grow as the season progresses. No doubt, this is an exciting time of year!! We have a lot of work to do, so I gotta run!
Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center patients and some of the hospital’s biggest supporters attended our practice on October 22nd. The group enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of our facilities, viewed videos in our theater, shot some hoops in the K Center, watched a private five-on-five scrimmage with actual officials, interacted with some of our players after the scrimmage, and then had dinner in Cameron’s Hall of Honor. After the meal, Coach K spoke to the group, answered questions, posed for photos, and signed autographs. The event was hosted and coordinated by Debbie K. Savarino, our Director of External Relations.
