A new look for the last stop before Coach K Court
PHOTOS: The Defense Room
Cameron Indoor Stadium’s Defense Room, the last gathering spot for the Blue Devils before hitting the floor, has a new look. The room was renovated this week and now includes displays for Duke’s record nine National Defensive Player of the Year trophies, photos of each current player playing D, motivational quotes from Coach K, and images of former Blue Devils Shane Battier and Shelden Williams.
“The Defense Room helps get us in the right mindset before a game”, said Kyle. “Duke’s success is based on defense and it’s a nice place to remind us of that before a game. It always feels good to walk in there.”
What goes on when the Blue Devils enter the Defense Room as a team? According to Kyle: “We’ve done a few things this year. We’ve done some chants and switched them up. Our recent one is pretty good, I can’t go into too much detail, but we get in a circle and Nolan is usually in the middle screaming out some particular words to get us hyped. This one is working so we will stick to it.”
Since the National Defensive Player of the Year award was introduced in 1987, six different Duke players have combined to win the nine NDPOY awards (five more than any other school). Hopefully the updated Defense Room will help inspire a record 10th winner for the Blue Devils (and some big defensive stops and takeaways that lead to fast breaks and scoring runs).
DUKE’S NATIONAL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
2006 – Shelden Williams
2005 – Shelden Williams
2001 – Shane Battier
2000 – Shane battier
1999 – Shane Battier
1998 – Steve Wojciechowski
1993 – Grant Hill
1988 – Billy King
1987 – Tommy Amaker
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