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Thread: Classy K

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Columbia, SC

    Classy K

    Hi All,

    I've been lost from normal civilization for two and a half weeks and missed the opportunity to post this at the appropriate time. All things considered it probably has more resonance today than it would have had at the moment it happened.

    At the end of the Clemson - Duke ACC Semifinal game I watched as Coach K embraced Oliver Purnell in a heartfelt congratulation that lasted (in post game handshake terms) a long time. You could see a genuine sense of pleaseure on K's face as he passed his thoughts to Coach Purnell. At a moment when I'm sure he was feeling an immense concern for his own team it was a gracious and selfless gesture to a fellow coach.

    I wish I could explain what happened to my Tigers from that moment forward. We played well against UNC for 25 minutes - then hit a five minute drought that essentially cost us any real shot at the ACC Title. At the time I can say I was simply happy to be there. In my lifetime (some 37 years worth now) I had never awoken on an ACC Finals Sunday with the expectation of watching Clemson play. That was a special thing for me.

    We looked unstoppable vs. 'Nova for 12 minutes. Then the wheels fell off and we never recovered. I read where Purnell specualted that the ACC Tourney took far more out of us than he and his staff expected that it would. I don't know that they'll have a chance to put that lesson to good use again in the future but I suppose it's worth knowing. In the end it looked to me like Villanova was just a better team that night. Perhaps it was just a tough match-up for us as our pressure seemed to take far more out of us than it did out of their very good backcourt.

    It has been difficult to follow the tournament since. You'd think that Clemson would have been able to take care of business against Siena and that would have produced a match up with Kansas. Kansas is exactly the kind of team that Clemson has played very well against all year and I would have enjoyed seeing us take a crack at them. After that...it could have been Davidson standing in the way of a Final Four appearance. What could have been...

    Clemson locked Purnell up through 2014 in the week between the ACCs and the NCAAs. I'm not sure if that contract has been officially finalized but it has been agreed to in principal on both sides. I hope Purnell finishes his career as an icon at Clemson. And I hope he and K have an opportunity to share many more congratulations at mid-court in the future.

    Klem

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Bethesda, MD

    cool post

    i hope we all as duke fans take something away from this. what we see as an expectation, many other teams and fans rejoice in. 2 bad years will not destroy duke basketball. that is, if you really think 2 years with an average of 25 wins in each is bad. thanks klem

  3. #3

    Purnell is a gentleman, too

    I spoke with Coach Purnell at his daughter's graduation from BC last May. He was absolutely charming, even after I teased him a bit about being my being a Dukie. Just a very nice man and someone I'll be happy to pull for next year.

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