Friday, July 02, 2004
Blue in the face
Earlier this summer I included the Duke Blue Devils in my preaseason Top 10.8. Duke. The bad news: With Livingston following Deng into the Draft, Duke will be down to eight scholarship players. The good news: Six of the eight were McDonald's All-Americans. This team will struggle at times, but because Krzyzewski returns, so does the Top 10 ranking.
But what if Coach K sells out for $40 million? Will the empire crumble?
Next year, you'll think so. Shelden Williams, Shavlik Randolph, J.J. Redick, Sean Dockery and Daniel Ewing are as an average a starting five as you'll find in the ACC. Demarcus Nelson is an impact addition, but without Coach K, I'll bet the Dukies drop out of the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls by mid-December or January. They won't have the firepower to compete in a talent-laden conference or the experience to overcome the inevitable bumps in the road.
