Alleva regime features mixed bag of success, failure

Slightly more than four years into his job, Duke Director of Athletics Joe Alleva remains upbeat about the status of Duke sports. Since he was hired by President Nan Keohane to replace longtime AD Tom Butters, many tangible improvements and successes have buoyed the department.

National championships in women's golf and men's basketball and two Final Fours in women's basketball have brought national acclaim to three of the Blue Devil programs. Duke consistently beats out its peer institutions in the number of players who garner academic honor roll distinctions from the ACC, and its teams have graduation rates that most schools would only dream of. And an upgrade in the facilities of the basketball programs, the tennis programs and the football team bodes well for the future.

These significant gains, however, are accompanied by continuing issues for Alleva and the athletic department to address. Most notably, despite making football one of his foremost priorities, Alleva's efforts have done little, at least in the short term, to transform the Blue Devils from the ACC's laughingstock on the gridiron into a competitive team.

After firing former national coach of the year Fred Goldsmith and hiring former Blue Devil player and Florida assistant coach Carl Franks, Duke's record has only gotten worse. Franks' highly awaited passing scheme sputtered in his first season--when Duke went 3-8--and has since gone 0-22 in its past two seasons. With another winless season, the Blue Devils would beat the all-time record for consecutive losses in Division I-A history.

Despite these difficulties, though, Alleva remains positive about the state and the potential of the football program.

"Four years ago, I knew we were on the verge of not being very good," Alleva said. "I feel very good, particularly about the last few recruiting classes that Carl has put together. I think we're on the verge of being competitive. This team next year only has two seniors on the team, which is unheard of--two fourth-year eligibility guys--because most teams are built around senior guys. But I am optimistic that we can be competitive and I'm still dedicated to try to do that."

Alleva's dedication to prop up the football program has not gone unnoticed. Franks said he has witnessed an improved commitment on the part of the administration--spearheaded by Alleva--that he believes will ensure a turnaround of Duke's football success.

'The administration of the University and the administration of the athletic department have been tremendously helpful,' Franks said. 'Things like scheduling, support, financial resources--they're being put in place.... We've made tremendous strides around here, more so than maybe even 30 years.'

Although Franks has only won three games in his coaching tenure, Alleva's other hirings have led to an improvement in each of the sports in which new coaches were chosen. Volleyball coach Jolene Nagel has transformed a team that was 13-14 during her first season into a squad that won the ACC regular season title and advanced into the NCAA Tournament in 2001.

Women's tennis coach Jamie Ashworth, another Alleva hire, has virtually maintained the longstanding success of his program, and this success will likely carry into the future, given the youth of Duke's current national championship contending team. Not surprisingly, Ashworth had nothing but praise for his superior.

'He's made an unbelievable commitment and I think there's a couple of different levels to that. First, he has enabled us to have the facilities that we do--the Sheffield Center and the Ambler Tennis Stadium--basically in the middle of campus,' Ashworth said. 'To be able to enclose the Krzyzewski Plaza with this shows the athletic department's commitment to tennis. I think any support I've needed from him and the whole staff in there is great.'

Even the baseball program, which competes in arguably the nation's most competitive conference, has seen a marginal improvement under third-year coach Bill Hillier, who improved the Blue Devils from last in the ACC his first year to fifth in the conference in 2001. This season, although struggling in ACC play, Duke is threatening to have its first winning record in many years.

Alleva saved special praise for his most recent hire, women's soccer coach Robbie Church, who took an experienced, yet inconsistent team to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after struggling throughout the first half of its regular season.

'Robbie Church is doing a terrific job. He is an outstanding recruiter and he's got a tough job--they all do--but he's got a tough job competing with Carolina, which has been the best women's soccer program for years and years,' Alleva said. 'It's tough when they're only eight miles away.'

Although competing with North Carolina has been a focal point of the Alleva administration, as evidenced by the creation of the Carlyle Cup, the athletic director has also attempted to compete with programs around the country by adding scholarships and creating an endowment that will sift resources into every program for years to come.

Four years ago, Alleva said Duke was 175 scholarships away from competing with its peer institutions such as Stanford. Duke still lags well behind the Palo Alto, Calif. university--which consistently has won the Sears Director's Cup for best overall sports program--but under Alleva, 40 scholarships have been added to women's sports teams.

However, Alleva said this number is unlikely to rise in the near future.

'We only have eight sports that don't have scholarships and I don't perceive that changing,' Alleva said. ' We have a constant commitment to endowing more scholarships. The amount of endowment has grown significantly since I took this job, but not anywhere near where it needs to be.

'We probably need another $150 million in endowments, but we've probably added about $40 million since I've been here as director.'