Coach K’s book tour took him to Chicago, New York and Los Angeles with signings in Durham as well on the Duke campus, at Southpoint Mall and the Emily K Center. Along the way, the Duke Head Coach appeared on a number of media programs including ESPN’s Mike & Mike, the Colbert Report, the Charlie Rose Show, Jim Rome is Burning, Morning Joe, and more.
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Gerald Henderson announced on Saturday that he will make himself eligible for the 2009 NBA Draft to be held on June 25 in New York City. “After a lot of thought and discussion with my family and the Duke coaching staff, I have decided to enter the NBA Draft,” said Henderson. “Playing in the NBA has been a goal of mine since a young age and I am thrilled to have the opportunity. My three years at Duke have been a tremendous learning experience and have helped me develop both as a person and as a player.”
On the year, G led the team in scoring at 16.5 points per game, while also ranking second in rebounding (4.9 rpg.) and assists (91) and third in blocked shots (28) and steals (46). Henderson scored in double figures 31 times in 2008-09, including 11 games with 20 or more points scored. For his efforts, he earned All-America and first-team All-ACC honors.
“Gerald is an impressive young man on and off the court,” said Coach K. “We had great conversations about his NBA prospects and we are 100 percent behind his decision. Gerald is coming off a great season and he has an extremely bright future as a professional. We are ready to help him in any and every way during this process.”
Our team officially closed the book on the 2008-09 season at the annual team banquet in Cameron held last night. The festive evening celebrated a team that won 30 games for the 10th time in school history, claimed the 17th ACC Tournament title in school history, won the 2K Sports Classic in New York, and earned the final No. 1 ranking in the RPI.
The evening began with our team taking the floor of Cameron, huddling up, and then heading to a circular stage. After each player was introduced, dinner was served and awards presentations by our staff followed. Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer were named co-MVPs, Greg Paulus was named the team’s top scholar-athlete, and Lance Thomas was given the Coach’s Award as the player best exemplifying the commitment and values of Duke Basketball.
After the awards, Coach K introduced the four seniors — Jordan Davidson, Marty Pocius, Dave McClure and Greg Paulus — and each spoke to the crowd. Jordan talked about the three values he thought best represented Duke Basketball — dedication, family, and pride. Marty talked about his growth on and off the court and all of the educational experiences he has had that have made him a stronger player and person. Dave reflected on a five-year career that included great memories and also overcoming serious adversity highlighted by injuries that left doctors giving him only a 50-50 chance to resume his career. Greg closed with memories of his four years, his teammates along the way, and how the program changed his limits and his outlook on preparation. The two-time team captain stressed the honor and pride he felt representing Duke University and getting the chance to play for Coach K.
The traditional senior speeches by those four soon-to-be Duke graduates were followed by highlight videos of each senior. Coach K then presented a highlight video of the whole 2008-09 team with footage from throughout the year leading up to the ACC championship.
The evening closed with the team back on the circular, rotating stage in the center of Cameron. The 2008-09 Blue Devils then departed Coach K Court together as a team for the final time. The Duke fight song blared as the players received a standing ovation from everyone in attendance in Our House.
2008-09 Duke Men’s Basketball Award Winners
Swett-Baylin Award (MVP): Gerald Henderson, Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler
Dr. Deryl Hart Award (Top Scholar-Athlete): Greg Paulus
Glenn E. “Ted” Mann, Jr., Award (Reserve Contributing Most to Team Morale): Elliot Williams
Coach’s Award (Player Exemplifying the Commitment and Values of Duke Basketball): Lance Thomas
Iron Dukes Award (Most Minutes Played): Jon Scheyer
Bill Krzyzewski Captains’ Awards: Gerald Henderson, Greg Paulus, Jon Scheyer
Best Field Goal Percentage Award: Gerald Henderson
Best Rebounding Average Award: Kyle Singler
Best Free Throw Percentage Award: Jon Scheyer
Most Assists Award: Jon Scheyer
Best Defensive Player Award: Gerald Henderson
Gopal Varadhan Senior Manager Award: Joey McMahon, Griffin Tormey
Harry Rainey Spirit Award: Elise Rose
Charles Hogan Memorial Band Award: John Roelofs
Coach K’s new book The Gold Standard, co-written with his daughter Jamie Spatola about team building and the U.S. National Team, is out in stores and available for purchase. Essentially, the book is Coach K’s response to a question he has been asked frequently over the years: How does he build a team? In this case, Coach K and Jamie use the National Team as the case study and share all of the memorable moments that defined the 2008 Olympic champions. If you are a Coach K fan, a Team USA fan and/or an aspiring leader in any field, the book is a must read as it shares numerous behind-the-scenes insights involving LeBron, Kobe, D-Wade and all of the NBA stars who came together to form one of the greatest hoops teams in the history of the game.
Book Tour Dates
Coach K and Jamie are scheduled for an April book signing tour covering Durham, Chicago and NYC. Stop by and get your book signed!
Monday, April 13 – Chicago
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Borders
150 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60601
312-606-0750
Thursday, April 16 – Durham
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Barnes & Noble at Southpoint Mall
8030 Renaissance Parkway
Durham, NC 27713
919-806-1930
Friday, April 17 – Duke Campus
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Gothic Book Store
Duke Campus – Bryan Center
Durham, NC
919-684-3986
Saturday, April 18 – Durham
10:30 AM – Noon
Emily Krzyzewski Center
904 W. Chapel Hill Street
Durham, NC 27701
Monday, April 20 – New York City
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Barnes & Noble
555 5th Avenue (at 46th Street)
New York, NY 10017
212-697-3048
Tuesday, April 21 – New York City
1:00 PM
The NBA Store
666 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10103
212-515-6221
Playoffs Underway 14 former Devils finished up the NBA regular season last week, and the first-round of the Playoffs began last night. Seven different Blue Devils are fighting for a trip to the NBA Finals.
• Carlos Boozer hopes to lead the Utah Jazz to a first-round upset of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. That series starts Sunday at 3:00 PM in Los Angeles.
• Shane Battier anchors a suffocating Houston defense as the Rockets look to move past a young and talented Portland Trailblazers team, including Shavlik Randolph. The Rockets took game one on Saturday night.
• Dahntay Jones has provided a defensive presence in the starting lineup for the surprising Denver Nuggets all season long, and the #2-seeded Nuggets will look to take out Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets en route to the second round. That series starts Sunday at 10:30 PM in Denver.
• J.J. Redick has found a niche as a sharp-shooter off the bench to compliment powerful Team USA center Dwight Howard for the Orlando Magic. The #3-seeded Magic take on the Philadelphia Sixers starting Sunday at 5:30 PM in Florida.
• DeMarcus Nelson signed a free agent contract last week with the Chicago Bulls, and the rookie guard hopes to see some playoff action as the Chicago takes on the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics, who will likely be without superstar Kevin Garnett. Luol Deng remains sidelined with a stress fracture in his leg, but if the Bulls can get by Boston (series starts Saturday at 12:30 PM in Boston), Deng may make it back in time for the second-round. Chicago is off to a good start, with an OT win in game one.
Grant Hill Finishes Strong It’s not often that a 14-year NBA veteran can claim to have just completed his first completely healthy NBA season, but Grant Hill’s NBA career has been anything but ordinary. After dominating the league during his first six years in Detroit, earning All-Star honors each season, the do-it-all forward had missed multiple games due to injury every season until this year. Wednesday night, Hill finished off his 82nd game of this NBA season in spectacular fashion, tying a season-high with 27 points and pulling down 10 rebounds to go along with 5 assists and 4 steals. He has played his best basketball in his last 15 games, as the seven-time All-Star averaged 17.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, leading the Suns to a 10-5 record over that stretch as they tried to secure the final playoff spot in the West. Grant will enter this NBA off-season as a free agent and left no question that he can still compete at a very high level in this league. Whether he rides off into the sunset or signs with a team looking for the final piece of a championship puzzle remains to be seen.
Duhon Completes Successful First Season with Knicks Last summer, thanks to a little advice from Coach K, Team USA Assistant Coach and current New York Knicks head man Mike D’Antoni made signing Chris Duhon one of his top off-season priorities. The move paid off very well for the Knicks, as Duhon finished the season with career-highs in points (11.1), assists (7.2), rebounds (3.1), and minutes played (36.7). His assist rate was 11th in the NBA, and his minutes played were first on the team. The heavy minutes did seem to wear on the heady floor general as the season wore down. Duhon suffered back spasms for much of the season and wasn’t playing 100% healthy very often down the stretch, but he certainly established himself as an important part of a Knicks organization that is clearly building for the future.
Boozer Ready for Playoffs
Carlos Boozer took some time to round back into form after returning from mid-season arthroscopic knee surgery February 23rd. While his rebounding remained as strong as ever, and he finished the season once again averaging a double-double with 16.2 points and 10.4 rebounds, the bruising forward’s offense has been slower to come around. If his last three games are any indication, however, the LA Lakers better keep a close eye on Boozer in their first-round playoff series. Carlos finished the season averaging 20.3 points 11.3 rebounds in those games, including a 25-point, 12-rebound game Saturday against Golden State. If the Jazz hope to knock off Kobe Bryant and the powerful Lakers, Boozer will need to continue that kind of production into the post-season.
Ferry’s Cavs Look Like a Contender Former Blue Devil Ferry, now the Cavs GM, has built a team that looks poised to make a run to the Finals. Cleveland finished the regular season with the league’s best record at 66-16, setting a franchise mark for wins. Cavs games have become a big event in Cleveland with the emergence of LeBron and the team finished with a remarkable 39-2 home record this year. The Cavs began their playoff campaign Saturday with a win over Detroit.
Blue Devils Sidelined Very few Blue Devil alumni escaped this season unscathed, and six of Duke’s best NBA players combined to miss an astonishing 248 total games due to injury:
- Luol Deng – 33 games missed for a stress fracture
- Corey Maggette – 31 games missed, most recently for concussion
- Elton Brand – 53 games missed for shoulder surgery
- Mike Dunleavy, Jr. – 64 games missed for a knee injury
- Carlos Boozer – 45 games missed for a knee injury
- Shane Battier – 22 games missed for a sore left foot
Battier and Boozer have been back in action for some time and are gearing up for the NBA Playoffs with Houston and Utah, respectively, and Deng hopes to return to the Bulls lineup if they can make it to the second round. Maggette, Brand, and Dunleavy are done for the season.
Team USA Dominating the NBA The list of leading candidates for this year’s NBA MVP award reads like the starting lineup of Coach K’s Team USA squad that took home the gold medal this summer in China. Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard… It seems as though each took a little something extra back home with them following their Olympic experience. Wade, in particular, came back from Beijing with a vengeance, seemingly revitalized after a disappointing 2007-08 NBA season and averaging an astounding 30.2 points, 7.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game and leading the Heat to the #5 seed in the East. Lebron James’s Cavaliers and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers are the top two teams in the league, while Howard led the Magic to the #3 seed in the East.
Duke Blue Planet NBA Fantasy League Update What started out as a promising 2008-09 NBA season was quickly derailed for the Blue Devils as they suffered through an incredible array of injuries. Despite missing a combined 248 games from their top six fantasy performers, Duke’s fantasy team managed to finish in a tight battle with Florida for third place in the league. When a “second-string” can finish as the fourth-best group of college alumni in the NBA, you must be doing something right. Players like Chris Duhon, Grant Hill, and Dahntay Jones each stepped up their games in a big way to keep the Devils competitive throughout the year.
- Connecticut Huskies: 20,153.5
- North Carolina Tar Heels: 15,208.0
- Florida Gators: 14,688.1
- Duke Blue Devils: 14,056.9
- Arizona Wildcats: 12,912.3
- Kansas Jayhawks: 12,654.2
- Kentucky Wildcats: 9934.9
Scoring summary: one point for each point scored, 1.5 point for each rebound, two points for each assist, steal or block, 0.5 points for each 3-pointer made, and -1.2 points for each turnover. Field-goal percentage is included by subtracting 0.2 points for each field goal attempt and adding 0.5 points for each field goal made, which would mean you break even by shooting 40% from the field.
