Basketball Championship hid some of the other sport disappointments this year

[drhbre]

Overall, this year was on the disappointing side for Duke sports other than the Championship in basketball and football's continued Bowl invites. This was the first school year since 1979-1980 that Duke did not win an ACC championship. It was also the first year since 1990-1991 that Duke didn't win at least two ACC championships. Some of this can be attributed to the increased number of teams in the ACC (Although UVA won a significant number of championships this year). Duke will have its lowest Directors Cup national ranking since 02-03 and maybe earlier.

There are some sports that have been very successful and just couldn't win the ACC championship or NCAA championship (ie. Lacrosse and Womens Golf). But, some other sports seem to be stuck at a level where they are not at the same level as the past (ie. Mens soccer). Other sports are just not funded at the level of other schools (ie. Swimming, although Duke is adding funding to some sports).

Is Duke in a good situation in most sports or are some coaching changes needed? Duke seems to change coaches less frequently than other schools.

[Duke95]

Duke95 does not share your pessimistic appraisal of the situation.

[dukelifer]

Overall, this year was on the disappointing side for Duke sports other than the Championship in basketball and football's continued Bowl invites. This was the first school year since 1979-1980 that Duke did not win an ACC championship. It was also the first year since 1990-1991 that Duke didn't win at least two ACC championships. Some of this can be attributed to the increased number of teams in the ACC (Although UVA won a significant number of championships this year). Duke will have its lowest Directors Cup national ranking since 02-03 and maybe earlier.

There are some sports that have been very successful and just couldn't win the ACC championship or NCAA championship (ie. Lacrosse and Womens Golf). But, some other sports seem to be stuck at a level where they are not at the same level as the past (ie. Mens soccer). Other sports are just not funded at the level of other schools (ie. Swimming, although Duke is adding funding to some sports).

Is Duke in a good situation in most sports or are some coaching changes needed? Duke seems to change coaches less frequently than other schools.

And what is the downside of not winning an ACC championship? The goal is to get athletes to compete at the highest level. Duke certainly does this. Duke also has athletes who do well in the classroom, graduate and go on to successful careers inside and outside of sports. There are lots of measure of success. Winning an ACC championship is just one of them.

[CDu]

I would say that I'd need to see more evidence of "decline" than just one year. I mean, sure, we didn't win an ACC Championship in any sport in one year. Big deal. We could easily have won the ACC title (heck, we won the NCAA title) in basketball or women's golf. We could have threatened in lacrosse, though the ACC was stacked this year. So the statistic that we didn't win an ACC title rings pretty hollow and is somewhat random. One could just as easily say "we've won some sort of major championship in every year since 1979" and keep on rolling. It's just that with the expansion of conferences (especially with the addition of really strong programs through that expansion), it's harder to win a conference title than it used to be.

Our women's basketball program is very very good, but we face a new challenge in that Notre Dame (a powerhouse) joined the conference. Our men's tennis team was top-10 this year. Our women's tennis team was top-20. Our field hockey team was top-10. Our women's lacrosse team was top-5. So was our men's team. Both those teams just happened to play in a conference that has added powerhouses Syracuse and Notre Dame (well, at least in the men's side). And of course our men's program is elite.

I mean, aside from soccer (both men's and women's), baseball, softball, and men's golf, we were a top-10 team in almost every sport. Hard to say that the programs are suffering, or that coaching/program changes are necessary.

[DukieInKansas]

In addition, and perhaps ahead of, the Top 10 teams, there were many academic achievements for our Duke student-athletes this year:

David Helton wins the William V Campbell Trophy - aka the academic Heisman
David Helton named ACC's top scholar athlete
Helton, Laken Tomlinson, and Jeremy Cash - Academic All-Americans
Duke shared the American Football Coaches Association's 2014 Academic Achievement Award - 100% graduation rate for 2007 Freshman class - nation's best 13th time with this achievement
15 Public Recognition Awards from NCAA for APR: baseball, men's basketball, women's fencing, football, men's golf, women’s golf, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, rowing, men's soccer, women’s soccer, men's swimming and diving, men's outdoor track and field, men’s tennis and volleyball
Lauren Blazing (field hockey) named to Academic All America Team First Team
Sean Davis (soccer) - Academic All-American


To name just a few of the honors received this past year. Seems successful to me.

[roywhite]

The glass seems more than half-full to me, also.

Duke is blessed to have some outstanding coaches. Seriously, are there any better coaches in their sports than:
David Cutcliffe -- football
Mike Krzyzewski -- men's basketball
Dan Brooks -- women's golf
John Danowski -- men's lacrosse

Can't speak to the state of men's and women's soccer -- is it a bit disappointing? Can we get traction in baseball?

And, finally, we're in the midst of many upgrades for our facilities.

Problems? ... more like a golden age for Duke sports, IMO.

[sagegrouse]

This is a team that won the Midwest regionals and was in the semis of the NCAA championship. We had two players seeded #1 and #3 at the recent British Amateur (Celine won). We lost by 26 shots to Virginia at the ACC's in Greensboro! UVa made the NCAAs but didn't advance to the fourth round. I still haven't figured this one out except that "golf is golf." In fact, the NCAA announcers proclaimed that Duke and USC were the "royalty" of college golf.

[devildeac]

In addition, and perhaps ahead of, the Top 10 teams, there were many academic achievements for our Duke student-athletes this year:

David Helton wins the William V Campbell Trophy - aka the academic Heisman
David Helton named ACC's top scholar athlete
Helton, Laken Tomlinson, and Jeremy Cash - Academic All-Americans
Duke shared the American Football Coaches Association's 2014 Academic Achievement Award - 100% graduation rate for 2007 Freshman class - nation's best 13th time with this achievement
15 Public Recognition Awards from NCAA for APR: baseball, men's basketball, women's fencing, football, men's golf, women’s golf, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, rowing, men's soccer, women’s soccer, men's swimming and diving, men's outdoor track and field, men’s tennis and volleyball
Lauren Blazing (field hockey) named to Academic All America Team First Team
Sean Davis (soccer) - Academic All-American


To name just a few of the honors received this past year. Seems successful to me.

You forgot this one:

http://forums.dukebasketballreport.c...lliday-honored




Great list-thanks for compiling.

[DukeandMdFan]

Overall, this year was on the disappointing side for Duke sports other than the Championship in basketball and football's continued Bowl invites. This was the first school year since 1979-1980 that Duke did not win an ACC championship. It was also the first year since 1990-1991 that Duke didn't win at least two ACC championships. Some of this can be attributed to the increased number of teams in the ACC (Although UVA won a significant number of championships this year). Duke will have its lowest Directors Cup national ranking since 02-03 and maybe earlier.

I think that drhbre makes a fair observation that it is disappointing that Duke did not win any ACC championships this year.

(This presumes that the ACC Championship still holds some value, even though Maryland is no longer competing for it. )

I think it is more of an interesting observation than a sign of changes being needed.

[CDu]

I think that drhbre makes a fair observation that it is disappointing that Duke did not win any ACC championships this year.

(This presumes that the ACC Championship still holds some value, even though Maryland is no longer competing for it. )

I don't think anyone disagrees that it is disappointing not to win an ACC championship of any sort this year. Obviously winning is more fun than losing. That's not the part of drhbre's post that people are disagreeing with though. It's the next step that drew disagreement (the part you omitted in your quote): the questioning whether or not changes need to be made to the programs simply because we didn't win any ACC titles this year.

[DukeandMdFan]

I don't think anyone disagrees that it is disappointing not to win an ACC championship of any sort this year. Obviously winning is more fun than losing. That's not the part of drhbre's post that people are disagreeing with though. It's the next step that drew disagreement (the part you omitted in your quote): the questioning whether or not changes need to be made to the programs simply because we didn't win any ACC titles this year.

I edited before seeing your reply to comment on the second part of drhrbe's post.

[arnie]

Duke95 does not share your pessimistic appraisal of the situation.

Agree, in fact the NCAA BBall championship trumps all other results. Couple that with the continued football success and extraordinary humor out of C. Hill and this academic/sports year was very satisfying.

[weezie]

Duke95 does not share your pessimistic appraisal of the situation.

Yeah, seriously. Fly in the ointment OP.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Dr. White is optimistic.

When we're off the mark, we're never off that far, and we've got a chance to kind of bounce right back, snap right back," White said. "In some of our Olympic sports we were out of kilter a little bit from what we can do, where we have been, and I think we're going to snap right back.

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke-ad...year/14722141/

[rsvman]

This is a team that won the Midwest regionals and was in the semis of the NCAA championship. We had two players seeded #1 and #3 at the recent British Amateur (Celine won). We lost by 26 shots to Virginia at the ACC's in Greensboro! UVa made the NCAAs but didn't advance to the fourth round. I still haven't figured this one out except that "golf is golf." In fact, the NCAA announcers proclaimed that Duke and USC were the "royalty" of college golf.

Yes, not to mention the fact that in the women's golf NCAA semifinal there was a 15-foot putt that stopped about 2 inches short that might've put Duke into the finals, and if they had made it into the finals, they might've won the championship.


Besides, saying that winning a national championship masked not winning the ACC is sort of like saying that winning the Mega Millions lotts masked the fact that my job doesn't pay very well.