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wk2109
04-19-2019, 09:35 AM
The team held its annual banquet (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211800401&DB_OEM_ID=4200&_ga=2.73396187.912674950.1555680661-1570253003.1555680661) last night.

2018-19 Duke Men's Basketball Award Winners
Swett-Baylin Award (Most Valuable Player): RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson
Dr. Deryl Hart Award (Top Scholar-Athlete): Jack White
Pagliuca Family Coach's Award (Commitment and Values): Javin DeLaurier
Glenn E. “Ted” Mann Award (Contribution to Team Morale): Antonio Vrankovic
Iron Duke Award (Most Minutes Played): RJ Barrett
Bill Krzyzewski Captains' Award: Javin DeLaurier, Jack White
Best Field Goal Percentage: Zion Williamson
Best Free Throw Percentage: Cam Reddish
Best Rebound Average: Zion Williamson
Most Assists Award: Tre Jones
Best Defensive Player: Tre Jones
Gopal Varadhan Senior Manager Award: David Karamardian, Mike McAloon
Harry Rainey Spirit Award: Billy Gist
Charles Hogan Memorial Band Award: Kendall Liang

ikiru36
04-19-2019, 10:25 AM
The team held its annual banquet (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211800401&DB_OEM_ID=4200&_ga=2.73396187.912674950.1555680661-1570253003.1555680661) last night.

2018-19 Duke Men's Basketball Award Winners
Swett-Baylin Award (Most Valuable Player): RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson
Dr. Deryl Hart Award (Top Scholar-Athlete): Jack White
Pagliuca Family Coach's Award (Commitment and Values): Javin DeLaurier
Glenn E. “Ted” Mann Award (Contribution to Team Morale): Antonio Vrankovic
Iron Duke Award (Most Minutes Played): RJ Barrett
Bill Krzyzewski Captains' Award: Javin DeLaurier, Jack White
Best Field Goal Percentage: Zion Williamson
Best Free Throw Percentage: Cam Reddish
Best Rebound Average: Zion Williamson
Most Assists Award: Tre Jones
Best Defensive Player: Tre Jones
Gopal Varadhan Senior Manager Award: David Karamardian, Mike McAloon
Harry Rainey Spirit Award: Billy Gist
Charles Hogan Memorial Band Award: Kendall Liang

I was there for the program portion, and it was an enjoyable and well-run affair, as one would imagine.

Glad to share more if others are interested, but three things stood out to me as either somewhat unexpected or unusual:

1) It appears that we will in fact be hanging at least 2 banners based upon this year's team: ACC Tourney Champions AND Final AP #1. I suppose the latter shouldn't be a surprise as we have done this before, but I'd kinda forgotten. And while its value can be questioned (since the AP does it's final poll right before the NCAA tournament), it is as close as we get to determining the National Regular Season Champion, for whatever that may be worth. If nothing else, for any non-Blueblood program at least, it would be quite the accomplishment.

2) Coach K made a specific point of noting that RJ's dad is basically the head of Canada Basketball (the Maple Colangelo?) while Vrankovic's dad is apparently in a similar role for Croatia. K clearly wanted to convey a sense that he (and we, by extension) was very honored and blessed to have them among the Duke family, in this way.

3) I haven't been to one of these in years so I did not know how Duke handled players who were known to be leaving, for reasons other than pending graduation (AKA one-or-two and dones). If I understood Coach K correctly at the end of the night, up until now there are team awards, and the Seniors would speak, but there was no special recognition of these other players who were about to leave the program.
Last night, towards the end of his remarks, K referenced that he was about to do something for the first time, that he intended to continue to do in the future (when applicable), and he sort of implied that he wished he had done it in the past as well. Then he made a point of letting Cam, Zion, and RJ know that they should consider themselves fully-vested members of the Brotherhood, and therefore that they deserved as loving a good-bye and send-off as any other Duke Basketball alums. He called all 3 up on stage with him and asked the crowd to offer them a hearty farewell and thanks. Then, the whole team came on stage to a final ovation (and pictures), and the presentation ended.

Anyways, thought those three tidbits might be of interest to some of you. Discuss!

PS - The Senior speeches, if I remember correctly, are typically good, but I will note that I thought Besser's was really excellent. And Vrank's, while not nearly as eloquent, was touching as well.

ikiru36
04-22-2019, 01:24 PM
I was there for the program portion, and it was an enjoyable and well-run affair, as one would imagine.

Glad to share more if others are interested, but three things stood out to me as either somewhat unexpected or unusual:

1) It appears that we will in fact be hanging at least 2 banners based upon this year's team: ACC Tourney Champions AND Final AP #1. I suppose the latter shouldn't be a surprise as we have done this before, but I'd kinda forgotten. And while its value can be questioned (since the AP does it's final poll right before the NCAA tournament), it is as close as we get to determining the National Regular Season Champion, for whatever that may be worth. If nothing else, for any non-Blueblood program at least, it would be quite the accomplishment.

2) Coach K made a specific point of noting that RJ's dad is basically the head of Canada Basketball (the Maple Colangelo?) while Vrankovic's dad is apparently in a similar role for Croatia. K clearly wanted to convey a sense that he (and we, by extension) was very honored and blessed to have them among the Duke family, in this way.

3) I haven't been to one of these in years so I did not know how Duke handled players who were known to be leaving, for reasons other than pending graduation (AKA one-or-two and dones). If I understood Coach K correctly at the end of the night, up until now there are team awards, and the Seniors would speak, but there was no special recognition of these other players who were about to leave the program.
Last night, towards the end of his remarks, K referenced that he was about to do something for the first time, that he intended to continue to do in the future (when applicable), and he sort of implied that he wished he had done it in the past as well. Then he made a point of letting Cam, Zion, and RJ know that they should consider themselves fully-vested members of the Brotherhood, and therefore that they deserved as loving a good-bye and send-off as any other Duke Basketball alums. He called all 3 up on stage with him and asked the crowd to offer them a hearty farewell and thanks. Then, the whole team came on stage to a final ovation (and pictures), and the presentation ended.

Anyways, thought those three tidbits might be of interest to some of you. Discuss!

PS - The Senior speeches, if I remember correctly, are typically good, but I will note that I thought Besser's was really excellent. And Vrank's, while not nearly as eloquent, was touching as well.

Just adding the posted videos from the Banquet, in case others are interested:

Brennan Besser Senior Speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Voqwo5I3rBI

Antonio Vrankovic Senior Speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnux3zHFxS0

Coach K Season Review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFRNB3_akFI

Enjoy!