THE PERIMETER It’s amazing to think back about a year ago. It seemed
like everything was going against us. We were losing key guys. Obviously Gerald’s decision to go pro and Elliot’s family situation were unforeseen. You’re looking at a team with very few bodies in the backcourt, and a lot of
inexperience in the frontcourt. At the end of the day though, we knew we had guys who had a lot of heart, toughness, and experience. The lesson here is to always take what you have and to make
the most of it. Now, did we think we were going to be a national championship team? I’m not going to say that. But I always trust Coach and the way we put things together that we’re going to get it done with who we have. Some of those losses we had during the season forced us to go to a style and system that became the reason we won. It’s a great credit not only to Coach K, but also to the guys and their ability to come together and get it done.
The big guys were the heart and soul of our team. All year long, obvi- ously Jon, Kyle and Nolan received a lot of praise. “The Big Three” took the most shots and scored the most points. It takes special guys to embrace the kind of roles that Brian and Lance took on, and also Mason and Miles. Those four guys did all the dirty work for our team. They set the tone in the paint, they were our best communicators on defense, they were the reason we were one of the best rebounding teams ever at Duke, and they were the anchors of our defense. I think the thing that made it great was that the perimeter guys knew that. So even though they were getting the shots and they were getting the points, those guys knew that what the big guys did was the key to us winning. The journey that Brian Zoubek went on is one of the greatest stories you can have.
In today’s world, when you have a guy who’s hurt and hasn’t played often, a lot of kids would give up and they would transfer. He stuck with it, he believed in where he was, he got healthy, and he worked hard. Coach always talks about each kid running his own race. Brian ran his own race and he’s going to have a great chance to be a pro now and was a big reason we became a national championship team. Our four perimeter players -– the guys I worked with every day in practice -– ran their own races and all four have great stories as well. Jon Scheyer... I remember the first time Coach K and I made a recruiting trip to see Jon at his high school. It was my high school alma mater so we were very familiar with the surroundings and the people. The very first thing you saw about Jon was his spirit and his leadership. It was an open gym and he was clearly the best player there, but he was always talking, he was picking teams, he was directing the whole gym, he was in control of everything. And the more you got to see him, the more you appreciated what he does. For him to win a state championship with the team he had in the state of Illinois in high school, and then to come to college and year after year continue to get better, to take on different roles, to start as a freshman, to
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