THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511230623
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
If you like subplots with your basketball games as much as you like stuffing with your turkey, take a hearty nap after today's meal so you can stay awake into the wee hours of the morning.
Old Dominion opens the season against Duke shortly after midnight in the Great Alaska Shootout in a game with more tasty side dishes than today's holiday table.
Father goes against son as ODU coach Jeff Capel takes on Duke player Jeff Capel III.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is back on the bench after missing most of last season with a back problem.
Center Odell Hodge returns for ODU after a season-ending knee injury.
Five highly touted Monarchs freshmen and sophomore transfer Joe Bunn make their ODU debuts.
ODU tries to carry over the momentum of last year's excellent season, while Duke tries to bury the bad memories of 1994-95, the first time in 12 years the Blue Devils did not make the NCAA tournament.
All of this takes place under the backdrop of the aptly named Great Alaska Shootout at sold-out Sullivan Arena. Three of the eight teams are nationally ranked (No. 6 Connecticut, No. 10 Iowa and No. 23 Indiana), five played in the postseason a year ago and only Duke is coming off a losing season.
``It's a great opportunity for Old Dominion, an up-and-coming program, to compete against teams that we want to be like,'' ODU coach Capel said. ``It's a great challenge early, and that's good.''
The challenge tonight for the Monarchs will be to handle Duke's backcourt and take advantage of its own matchup advantage inside. The Blue Devils have a preponderance of perimeter players - led by Capel, the injured Trajan Langdon and Ricky Price - but no returning dominant interior players.
``On paper, you'd have to say we have the best frontcourt and they have the best backcourt,'' Hodge said. ``I think overall we have the best team. And I think the best team will win.''
Hodge has been eagerly anticipating the day he would step onto the court again wearing an ODU uniform since he tore his anterior cruciate ligament Dec. 3, 1994.
``It's going to be goose bumps from head to toe just knowing I'm blessed to be able to play basketball again,'' ODU's 6-foot-9 center said.
Krzyzewski could have the same sensation after returning from the back problems that sidelined him most of last season.
``I've been away from coaching for a while,'' Krzyzewski said. ``For me, it's just good to be here.''
``He seems more hungry,'' Duke's Jeff Capel said. ``He's more excited and there's more enthusiasm.''
The ODU-Duke winner will meet either Indiana or Division II host Alaska Anchorage in the winners' bracket at midnight Friday in a game that will also be televised by ESPN. The two losers play at 6:30 p.m. in an untelevised game. by CNB