Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 5, 1990 TAG: 9006050217
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The most pressing question was where Gavitt would be when he made the call. Providence, R.I., where the Big East offices are located? Boston, where he is taking over as chief executive of the NBA's Celtics? Or Durham, N.C., where he met Monday with Mike Krzyzewski to discuss the possibility that the Duke coach's next job will be with the Celtics.
Coach K is considered the front-runner to succeed Jimmy Rodgers in Boston, and certainly the money would be far more than what Duke could pay. Krzyzewski, however, is not Jim Valvano. He could have made far more money at other schools; for that matter, he could have made more and maintained the Duke job, but that would have meant shortchanging his players.
That Krzyzewski might leave Duke for a pro job isn't a shock. He has considered it before. He was offered the chance to be the Miami Heat's first coach, but elected to remain with the Blue Devils.
Sources close to Coach K say he might accept Boston's offer. He and Gavitt are close friends, and the man who created the Big East has been assured complete control of the operation.
Krzyzewski also is a traditionalist. Most NBA jobs wouldn't intrigue him, just as other college jobs haven't. He and Duke have been the perfect marriage, and not just because he has been to the Final Four in four of the past five years.
The kind of players Krzyzewski has been able to recruit to Duke during his decade at the school have been, for the most part, the type of players he wants.
But it never gets any easier, and the pressure continues to mount. One school of thought has it that Krzyzewski has done all he can do at Duke, although based on his most recent recruiting class, which includes Grant Hill and Tony Lang, that seems unlikely. Still, there is no guarantee he can take any more teams to the Final Four, much less win the NCAA title.
He is a man so dedicated to his work, so intense, that another challenge might seem intriguing. The irony could be that as the ACC and Big East have placed themselves in position to continue as pre-eminent conferences, the commissioner of one league would hire away the most visible young coach of the other.
\ As for the ACC/Big East Challenge, the pairings and sites had not been finalized Monday afternoon. Rules prevent rematches from the previous year, and most schools that played on the road in '89 will be in their home area in December.
Look for Virginia to play either in Richmond or Norfolk, which would give state fans their first look at coach Jeff Jones.
The No. 1 game is likely to match Duke and Georgetown, perhaps at the Capital Centre in Landover, Md.
\ There are some stupid sportswriters out there. (Yes, I know some of you think that's redundant.)
But who were the three guys who didn't vote for Michael Jordan in the NBA's balloting for player of the year? It's not that they didn't vote Air Jordan first, which is at least debatable. The voters - all NBA beat reporters - were allowed to pick their top five. And three of them thought Jordan was no better than No. 6.
Nobody was unanimous. Winner Magic Johnson was left off some dummy's top five, while the deserving Charles Barkley was denied a vote by two selectors. What games have those people been watching, anyway?
The same mentality was expressed on these pages recently by a national columnist who was praying for somebody to beat the Pistons, because he doesn't like the way the NBA champions play.
This guy obviously enjoys three-on-one fast breaks and uncontested layups. Nobody said the Pistons were lovable, but you can't dispute their team play. They win not because they have the best players, but because they have the best team.
Isn't that's what it's all about?
\ Why am I not surprised that the Southeastern Conference is opposed to the idea of eliminating athletic dormitories? Of the 21 schools that still have dorms that isolate their athletes from the student body, eight are in the SEC - everybody except academic-giant Vanderbilt and Kentucky, the only league school to win a national award for the highest graduation rate in football.
There never has been any question about the SEC's priorities. Mess with anything you want, but don't touch football.
by CNB