The Freshman Sensation

By Bill Brill

Alana Beard awoke Sunday to a strange feeling. For the first time in almost two years, she had been on the losing side in a basketball game.

Prior to a 93-75 defeat at Clemson that snapped the Blue Devils' nine-game winning streak, the last time the 18-year-old Duke freshman played on a team that didn't win was midway in her junior year of high school.

For the record, her Southwood High team in Frierson, La., won its last 17 games that season, then went 36-0 in her senior year.

Last summer, playing for a USA junior team coached by icon Gino Auriemma of Connecticut, Beard was the leading scorer as the Americans won a gold medal with a 5-0 record. So, until the tough Tigers limited Duke to 36.5 percent shooting in the ACC opener, Beard's teams had won 67 consecutive games. Beard didn't anticipate the loss for the third-ranked Blue Devils, although coach Gail Goestenkors is now 3-6 in Littlejohn Coliseum. But she understood the reality that going undefeated at the highest level of college basketball was extremely unlikely.

In an interview conducted before the game, the 5-11 guard/forward said, "It's kind of scary. If it (a defeat) happens - I'm not saying it will but if it does - it will be kind of a weird thing to see. I don't know how I'll react. I know after my first loss in high school as a sophomore, I didn't talk to anybody for a day."

Well, now that Beard is a mere 67-1 since early in 1999, she will be more determined than ever to make certain that these moments come only on rare occasions.

Certainly, Beard never has gotten used to losing. In her four seasons in high school, her team went 144-6. It won the state championship each time. Southwood never - never, ever - lost a district or home game with Alana in the lineup. In the state championship game last season, all she did was score 48 points and grab 20 rebounds.

Auriemma, whose defending NCAA champion UConn is No. 1 again, loved Beard's game. He predicted she would be an All-American by her sophomore season. It is not beyond probability that she will move that assessment ahead one year.

Last fall, when Goestenkors was talking to the Durham Sports Club, she was asked about her incoming recruits, generally rated one of the top three classes in the nation. When she talked about Beard, her eyes sparkled with such enthusiasm that it was impossible to ignore.

Goestenkors compared Beard's arrival at Duke to the signing of Johnny Dawkins by Mike Krzyzewski in 1982. There is one major difference, however. Dawkins was Coach K's first-ever big-time recruit. It signaled the beginning of what has become the most successful program in the nation.

Current associate head coach Dawkins and classmates Mark Alarie, David Henderson and Jay Bilas brought about a revival at Duke. The team went from last place in the ACC when they were freshmen to a 37-3 record as seniors, a No. 1 ranking, and a place in the national championship game against Louisville.

Now in her ninth year at Duke, Goestenkors already has twice won a national coach of the year honor, is a three-time ACC coach of the year, and played against Purdue for the NCAA title in 1999. Last year, she produced Duke's first ACC championship.

Despite the glossy record - now 183-77 - Goestenkors never has had the elite talent represented in this freshman class by Beard, Iciss Tillis and Rometra Craig. In the unbalanced world of women's basketball - a few programs continue to dominate - Coach G believes she now has the players to move up to that level.

Certainly, Beard is the linchpin. She can become the greatest player in Duke history, as her beginning indicates. Among the top 25 recruits from the prep class of 2000, Beard is having the biggest impact. Not only does she lead Duke in scoring with a 15.5 average, but that's the best thus far among the leading freshmen. Even more important, Beard has come up big against the toughest teams. Against the three nationally-ranked teams the Blue Devils have beaten - all away from home - she has scored 20 against LSU, 21 against Penn State and 18 against Boston College.

In a game at George Mason when Duke trailed for the first time at half, Beard wound up with 20 points and four steals. In the Clemson loss, she scored 18 points and had a team-high 10 rebounds before fouling out for the first time with 2:05 left.

The season has just begun, and she's already more than halfway to the school record for steals, held by assistant coach Joanne Boyle with 75. Beard has 41 in 10 games, never getting less than two in any contest. That followed a high school career in which she averaged 3.4 steals.

"I just want the ball," she said. She admits that she occasionally becomes too aggressive, gambles too much, "and I get in foul trouble. But I'm learning to control myself."

Despite its fast start, Goestenkors understands that her team has lacked consistency. "We're making a lot of mistakes. I feel like we're going to be really good by midseason. We're still a long way from where we can be."

Beard agrees. Asked how well she's played, she said, "On a scale of one to 10, maybe a five. I'm halfway there. I have a lot of learning to do.

There's a lot of room for improvement." After the stunner at Clemson, she'll redouble her efforts. Beard conducted this interview while clutching a basketball the way you might have cuddled your favorite toy when you were a kid.

Intense, she sat and talked while always keeping the ball in her hands with an ever-tightening grip. When she was finished, she raced down a hallway in Cameron - practice was scheduled for Card Gym - dribbling that ball.

It was never a cinch that Alana Beard would sign at Duke, thus beginning an even-brighter era for the Blue Devils. "No way," she said of the thought that she might make the trip north from Louisiana.

"They weren't high on my list," she said. "I wasn't going to allow Duke into my home. The people behind me, including my parents, they kind of pushed me to go to Duke. But they knew it always was going to be my choice."

She made her official visit on the weekend of the Blue-White game, and everything changed immediately. "It was just a feeling I had. The team, the coaches, the atmosphere. I prayed about it. I knew it was just the place to be.

"I didn't want to go to a huge school, where you can get lost. When I came here, I just knew it was the right place. Now I can't imagine being anywhere else."

She has not had problems adjusting to college life. "I had to learn the system. I had to change my study habits a great deal. But I know after the first semester, everything will be in place."

The NCAA dictates that players must get a day off each week. On that day, if you look on the Cameron court in the middle of the day, you likely will see Alana Beard, practicing by herself.

"The court is my utopia," she said. "I don't like to miss a day. If I don't practice, I feel like I lose something. I like pushing myself. I enjoy challenges."

She said she became a good defensive player in high school because that was what coach Steve McDowell stressed. She is working to get even better. "I need to be more vocal. I think you have to do that to be a great defensive player."

Beard goes full tilt all the time. She realizes that while her intensity is not only contagious but beneficial, she needs to become more patient. "I want things to be right," she said, "and right then."

Duke has the most depth it's ever had. Coach G often uses 13 players, and it has paid off. "I think it's great," said Beard. "It forces us to focus.

You know there's no excuse for not giving 100 percent, because there's always a fresh person ready to come in."

Beard has big dreams. She wants to see this program simply take off, to become - and remain - one of the elite. "We have to really focus," she said. "Who wants it the most? I want to give us passion, focus and heart."

She's certainly off to a fantastic start, and there's much more to come.

"She hasn't played a game yet like she practices," Goestenkors said. "She just takes over. She's had spurts in games."

Watching Alana Beard achieve her potential in four years will be an exciting moment for Duke basketball fans. There's not much doubt that she'll get there.

Players Mentioned

Alana Beard

Rometra Craig

Iciss Tillis

Duke information