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msdukie
07-05-2012, 10:23 PM
Now that Rodney Hood has officially been announced by Duke, the annual preseason information sheet has been posted:

http://www.goduke.com/fls/4200/web-docs/2012-13%20MBB%20Quick%20Facts.pdf

Anyone know where Chris Spatola is going since 2011 graduate, former manager, and 2012 grad assistant Pat Thompson is now listed as Director of Basketball Operations?

Cameron
07-07-2012, 09:19 PM
I'm also curious as to the future of Coach Spatola. He's a great person, and master motivator. While working at the Duke Camp a few years ago, I saw him discipline a rowdy and lawless 17 or 18-year-old camper in one of the dorms -- having stayed in that particular dorm, I can say the kid was basically Kevin McCallister on speed -- and my cousin and I nicknamed Spatola "Dr. Death." The guy has crazy intimidating eyes, which you might expect from a West Point alumnus.

Love the fiery passion Spatola generates on the bench. I hope he's not leaving the program.

DST Fan
07-08-2012, 07:54 AM
GoDuke lists Chris Spatola as Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics/Special Initiatives.

Cameron
07-08-2012, 09:40 PM
GoDuke lists Chris Spatola as Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics/Special Initiatives.

Thanks for the info, DST. I knew somebody here knew something, as a changeover such as director of basketball operations typically doesn't just go unnoticed.

I would guess that Spatola will no longer have a seat on the sideline in this new role, which saddens me a bit. But it sounds as if he is perhaps being groomed for an even bigger position and I wish him well.

Dev11
11-08-2012, 03:59 PM
I just saw Bob Harris tweet about how Chris Spatola is calling a game tonight on the PAC-12 network and thought, hmm, I thought Chris Spatola was working at Duke. Turns out I was wrong. He is now a PAC-12 in-game analyst, which I dug up simply by Googling his name.

http://seattletimes.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2019559725_detlef_schrempf.html

I doubt that he is still working at Duke and calling games on the Left Coast on a regular basis. I don't know that I've ever heard the guy speak, but hey, maybe I'll stay up late and catch a PAC-12 game or two this year. I suppose being in Colorado I am in PAC-12 'country,' although there ain't anything 'Pacific' about living here.

By the way, Spatola's replacement at Duke, Pat Thompson, is a good dude. Way to go, class of 2011.

CameronBornAndBred
11-08-2012, 06:37 PM
I just saw Bob Harris tweet about how Chris Spatola is calling a game tonight on the PAC-12 network and thought, hmm, I thought Chris Spatola was working at Duke. Turns out I was wrong. He is now a PAC-12 in-game analyst, which I dug up simply by Googling his name.

http://seattletimes.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2019559725_detlef_schrempf.html

I doubt that he is still working at Duke and calling games on the Left Coast on a regular basis. I don't know that I've ever heard the guy speak, but hey, maybe I'll stay up late and catch a PAC-12 game or two this year. I suppose being in Colorado I am in PAC-12 'country,' although there ain't anything 'Pacific' about living here.

By the way, Spatola's replacement at Duke, Pat Thompson, is a good dude. Way to go, class of 2011.
Seems like a hell of a commute.

NSDukeFan
11-08-2012, 06:40 PM
Seems like a hell of a commute.

It's all within the Big East conference.

BD80
11-08-2012, 09:43 PM
It's all within the Big East conference.

I believe the space station is within the big East conference.

Newton_14
11-08-2012, 09:57 PM
I believe the space station is within the big East conference.

I heard their team is really close and has great chemistry. :)

NSDukeFan
11-09-2012, 05:39 AM
I heard their team is really close and has great chemistry. :)

You think Duke has tough academic standards? You have to be a rocket scientist to be on that team.

BD80
11-09-2012, 07:17 AM
You think Duke has tough academic standards? You have to be a rocket scientist to be on that team.

Talk about having trouble landing a big man ...

Indoor66
11-09-2012, 12:19 PM
Talk about having trouble landing a big man ...

Imagine taking a charge - Yipes.

CameronBornAndBred
11-09-2012, 12:35 PM
Imagine taking a charge - Yipes.
Imagine fouling out. Open the air lock...aaahhhh seeeeeya!

Cameron
11-09-2012, 01:22 PM
So Chris and Jamie (Krzyzewski) Spatola are now, presumably, living on the West Coast? That'd odd, isn't it? Well, just in the fact that Jamie has worked so closely with the Duke basketball program over the years with her father and sisters (although maybe not as much as Debbie has, being that Debbie is director of the Legacy Fund).

Seems like Chris had the perfect gig in Durham with the family all there and as an aspiring coach, which I believe Spatola said at one point he was, while working under the best the game has ever seen -- kind of on top of the world. But maybe it's that "comfort zone" that drove him to pursue a different path, so to speak.

Good luck to him.