Basketball season has finally arrived.
No. 9 Duke opens the 2009-2010 season Friday night at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium against UNC-Greensboro. After reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in three years last season, the Blue Devils look to begin this campaign with a victory.
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski is in his 30th year at the helm for the Blue Devils as Duke kicks off its 105th season, ready to make a run deep into March. The Cameron Crazies will be out in full force after waiting months for their beloved Blue Devils to take the floor.
“It’s a fresh start for us and we’re very excited. It’s a lot of fun for us,” junior Kyle Singler said.
UNC-Greensboro struggled last year, going 4-16 in the Southern Conference and 5-25 overall. The Spartans return four of their five starters—including leading scorers Mikko Koivisto and Ben Stywall—but the team lacks depth, as only one player other than Koivisto and Stywall averaged more than six points per game last season.
Duke will be without two of its starters. Junior guard Nolan Smith will serve the first of a two-game suspension for playing in an unsanctioned basketball league this summer, and freshman Mason Plumlee is out with a fractured wrist. Without Smith, the Blue Devils will have to rely on senior Jon Scheyer and freshman Andre Dawkins to do much of the ball handling.
“We do have a lack of guards and with Nolan not playing, we have to be more aware of staying out of foul trouble and just being smart,” Singler said.
Along with Dawkins, freshman Ryan Kelly will also get his first taste of Division-I basketball. Kelly, Lance Thomas, Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek will be relied upon to establish the inside game, particularly in the absence of Mason Plumlee.
“We’ll try to pass the ball high and get the ball down the court,” Singler said. “With that bigger unit we have, the main thing we have to do is not get rushed as a team. We have to stay poised and make good passes.”
Singler, who was chosen as the preseason ACC Player of the Year and named to the AP preseason All-American team, leads the Blue Devil scoring attack while Miles Plumlee looks to overpower the Spartans inside. No player on UNC-Greensboro is taller than 6-foot-8 while Duke boasts a lineup that includes five active players who are 6-foot-8 or taller.
“Our strength is the big guys around the court,” Scheyer said. “When [the big lineup] is in there, we need to be strong inside and get the ball in there.”
Friday’s game marks the first of four games in nine days for Duke. The Blue Devils take on Coastal Carolina Monday and the winner of the Charlotte-Elon matchup Tuesday in the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament. Duke finishes the stretch by playing host to Radford next Saturday afternoon.
But first, the Blue Devils have to take care of business against the Spartans. The team knows that upsets can happen at any moment and must therefore play hard.
“It’s exciting to see where we can go from here and we still have a lot of work to do, but we’re looking forward to it,” Singler said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.