Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Nov. 19, 1982, edition 1 / Page 35
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Starting over at Duke: - players, staff preparing for' revival of past glory Many experts rate the Blue Devils' recruiting season one of the na tion's best. But with super scorer Vince Taylor out of the picture and only one double-digit scorer back, head coach Mike Krzyzewski is hop ing his talented freshmen grow up in a hurry. Prediction: Seventh. By FRANK KENNEDY Staff Writer . . Last winter, the fans of the Duke Blue Devils were in. mourning. Helplessly, . they watched what was once a powerful machine (i.e. the Gminski-Spanarkel era) crawl through a season as dismal as anything they had wit nessed in 10 years. When at last the season closed with a disheartening 35-point shellackingby Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC tournament, the Devils had managed only 10 victories in 27 tries. Their seventh place conference standing was possible only through the good graces of Georgia Tech. Yet, in spite of all the hard times, there was an occa sional relief Duke fans spelled it V-I-N-C-E. Add a Taylor' to that, and you've got the one man who could always be counted on when a few thrills were in, order. But now, Vince is gone. And that is not the only prob lem. Only one double-digit scorer, Chip Engelland, re turns to the starting lineup. Ten of the 14 names on the roster are freshmen or sophomores. Doug McNeely (11) and Mike Tissaw(31) are two of only four players to return to Duke's '82-83 lineup. to-Vince unit of last year. "We still Hope that the good guard shooting continues from Emma and Engelland, but we need to spread.it (scoring) around more," he said. , . Spreading it around shouldn't be too difficult. After all, this may be one of the most balanced teams in the league. Over half the team has one thing in common they've played little or no college basketball. By the same token, this year's freshmen group, rated by many experts as the best in the country, is not exactly without the ability to quickly adapt to the college game. Krzyzewski said that many of these new Blue Devils are better now than what he has coming back, even the returning starters. Nonetheless, he is quick to point out ; that they are freshmen and that how they look during workouts and scrimmages is no definite indication of how they will perform in a game situation. "It's a big question mark. The competition will be much tougher, and these guys are mostly 18 or 19 years old, so that must be taken into consideration," Krzyzew ski said. -That shouldn't stop them from taking over as many as three, possibly even four, starting positions. No one is small for his position, but no one is all Mark Alarie, a 6-8 forward from Scottsdale, Ariz., is that big, either. If the team can't hit from the outside, it may have trouble hitting at all. Outstanding in high school, six freshmen are now going up against not only the ACC, but a new set of rules. . It would be an understatement to say that head coach Mike Krzyzewski has his work cut out for him. One of Krzyzewski's main dilemmas is putting together some kind of starting unit that will work together with more cohesiveness than that give-the-ball- a sure bet to move right in as strong forward. Considered by many to be the best prep player from the West, Alarie averaged 30 points and 17 rebounds per game in high school. Rockville, Mary, native Johnny Dawkins may also be oh the court for the opening tip-off, starting ahead of senior Tom Emma at the point guard spot. Chip Engelland, a 6-4 senior sharpshooter from the perimeter, will handle the other guard role. Engelland averaged 15.2 points per game last year. The remaining positions are wide open. Mike Tissaw, a 6-8 senior, struggled last year in a starting role, garner ing only three points and 3.5 rebounds each outing. He may have to fight to keep the starting job away from Jay Bilas, California's best prep product in some time. - The other forward is up for grabs, even though Danny Meagher appears to have the inside track. He proved to be a solid competitor in his freshman year, the kind of "gutsy" player that Krzyzewski likes to coach. . If Krzyzewski decides against Meagher, he could go to junior Doug McNeely, last season's . most improved player. At 6-5, the El Paso, Texas native is capable of filling in at both small forward or wing guard. With potential like that, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Blue Devils improve on last year's performance. There's just one problem this isn't any ordinary year in basketball. In fact, it may be the worst year possible to have a team as young as Krzyzewski does. With virtually every league around the country playing under a different set of rules, the Blue Devils will find themselves adjusting their game back and forth from ACC to NCAA rules especially during the conference season. One day it's run, run, run; the next day it's zone, zone, zone. "If we had more veterans, we probably wouldn't have as much trouble adjusting between games. Plus, we've got six new people, so that's even more of a disadvan tage," he said. Krzyzewski won't say he's coming blindly into this season, but the picture certainly isn't very clear. "We're a very unpredictable team because we're so young," he said. "We don't set any goals such as games won or lost; we just want to get into some kind of post season play." - No. Player Year Ht. Wt. Hometown 32 Mark Alarie Fr. 6-8 216 Scottsdale, AZ 44 Todd Anderson So. 6-9 215 Golden Valley, MN 2 Jay Bilas . . Fr. 6-8 215 Rolling Hills, CA Duke Schedule - 33 Jay Bryan So. 6-8 200 Lakewood, CO B Mf T TiJ 24 Johnny Dawkins Fr. 6-2 160 ' Rockville, MD Boldface denotes home games 22 Tom Emma Sr. - 6-2 175 Manhasset, NY Nov. 17 French National Team 14 Chip Engelland Sr. 6-4 180 Pacific Palisades, CA (Exhibition) 12 David Henderson Fr. 6-5 190 Manson, NC Nov. 27 East Carolina 34 BillJackman Fr. 6-8 215 Grant, NB Nov. 29 Appalachian State 11 Doug McNeely Jr. 6-5 200 El Paso, TX Dec. 2 Colorado 45 Dan Meagher , So. 6-7 195 St. Catherines, Ontario Dec. 4 California-Berkeley 31 Mike Tissaw Sr. 6-8 220 Fairfax, VA Dec. 8 Virginia 25 GregWendt So. 6-6 200 Livonia, MI Dec. 11 Vanderbilt 40 Weldon Williams . Fr. 6-6 190 Park Forest South, IL . : Dec. 14 Davidson Dec. 29 Jan. 3 Jan. 5 Jan. 8 Jan. 12 Jan. 15 Jan. 19 Jan. 22 Jan. 26 Jan. 29 New Hampshire George Mason Wagner LaSalle Louisville Maryland Wake Forest North Carolina N.C. State Qemson Feb. Feb. Feb. 2 5 9 Feb. 12 Feb. 16 Feb. 19 Feb. 23 Feb. 26 March 2 March 5 William and Mary Virginia Georgia Tech Maryland Stetson Wake Forest N.C State Georgia Tech Clemson North Carolina X cAura Food StA c i 9684319 yTP 10-6Mon-Sat Bulk Foods, Cheeses, Teas, Snacks,. Juices, Middle-Eastern Foods Friendly, Helpful Senice ' 020 SALE ALL Prescription glasses, sunglasses and non-prescription sunglasses 20 ofF in stock frames only. I Sale ends Dec. 18, 1982- OP TffiG LICENSED OPTICIANS University Mall. Chapel Hill. NC 967-2020 10 am-9 pm Mon.-Fri. 10 am-fi pm Sat. The Daily Tar Heel Preview 27
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Nov. 19, 1982, edition 1
35
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75