Quotes from Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Press Conference

Tuesday, June 27, 2000
Cameron Indoor Stadium
Durham, N.C.

Overall, things have gone well. We've moved into our new offices and we're settling in. One of the medical things that has happened in the last six weeks is Casey Sanders had ankle surgery. It was scoped and he's pretty close to being back to playing. He's fine. The rest of the guys are all in good shape. The only freshman who's not in summer school is Mike Dunleavy. We allowed him to go back home because his dad was involved in the NBA playoffs and he's done real well academically. Our two freshmen are here now- Chris Duhon and Andre Sweet- are involved in a summer program here at Duke. It's about 30 students -- half of them are recruited student-athletes in a summer program where they'll take the university writing course and then they'll also take a course that's in their second semester of summer school. They'll get a chance to be with other Duke students right away and that will help them with their transition in the fall. Things are going well. We're finishing up our last week of summer camp."

On Chris Carrawell
"Chris spoke to our camp yesterday. We've been talking to a bunch of people about Chris. Certainly we're proud of Chris Carrawell. He's come so far after being one of top players in high school, then experiences two shoulder surgeries here at Duke, then to see him come back, blossom and become the conference player of the year as a senior. Hopefully, he'll get drafted in a good position with a team that will appreciate his overall talents. I think Chris will be a journeyman NBA player. When he starts off, he'll be someone coming off the bench for a team. Because he's such a quick learner, because he's a winner. As a player here in the ACC, Chris was 58-6 in his career and in the last two years he was 37-1 the last two years. A lot of it has to do with the fact that he knew what it was to be either playing with players who were better than him or being the best player out on the court. He brings that to a pro team."

On the newcomers:
"The first thing they do is provide us depth. The two of them, combined with the fact that our freshman from last year will be a year older. All of them will be able to contribute more. Duhon is important to us because of the fact that we went through all of last year with only one ballhandler. Now we can either play them separately or together. He'll probably be as good a shooter as we have from the outside- although Shane would argue that. Chris Duhon is going to be a very special basketball player and I'm anxious to coach him. Andre is 6-6 and he knows how to play. He's played with good players in high school. He doesn't have to have the ball all the time. He'll be able to contribute more quickly to the program than some of the other kids we've brought in. He'll be a solid contributor and understands how to play."

On if he uses the summer to recuperate for the upcoming season:
"I like doing our camp. When you're around kids, it brings you back to the purity of the game. It's long hours for our staff and it gets you back to the basics. It's been really good having our kids here in summer school because we've been able to see them and see them in a non-pressurized environment where they're not playing ball and only taking two courses. Although we have a close team, you get even closer. I enjoy that. Plus, I'm in good health. We're going to be really good."

On the transfer of Dahntay Jones:
"Dahntay is only the second player to transfer into the program in 20 years. He affects our recruiting for his year. We would recruit a very good wing in this year's high school class if Dahntay was not going to be there. He'll be an experienced, good player. He was Rutgers' leading scorer and he's an outstanding defender. He committed early to Rutgers -- we think he'll fit in very well here, socially, academically and athletically."

On where the program is after losing four players to the NBA draft and coming back to win the ACC championship in 2000:
"I like the fact that we had that happen in our basketball program because of the people in our program. The coaches, staff and my support staff never used any of that as an excuse of not being excellent. As a result, we had a mindset that we thought we'd be good. here's no way I felt at the end of the regular season that we'd be ranked No. 1 in the country. Those people surprised me with their ability to commit to a group goal. It happened quicker than I thought. I'm proud of my people, very, very proud."

On the progression of Mike Dunleavy:
"Dunleavy is an outstanding basketball player that defies position. He may have been our most important player last year as far as how you put together a team. We were basically a six-man team. Because of his ability and versatility, he could come in for anybody. We had the appearance of being a deep team when we weren't. So much of that had to do with Dunleavy. That's why we recruited him. I expected him to be good, that's why we recruited him so hard. I love Dunleavy."

On where Shane Battier can take his game:
"Shane has to approach the game like he did the whole second half of last year. I thought there wasn't a better player in the country than Shane. He's not the most talented but the way he approached the game once we got into late January and February. He was sensational in his competitiveness and scoring. I think he can be an amazing scorer for us and I think he's got to be careful. He's taking more of the summer off. He's one of those guys that feels like he's got a term paper due every day. We told him to kind of step back a little bit. I thought by the end of last season because of his hard training, he might have been a little bit leg weary. Laettner was a little bit like that going into his senior year."

On how the freshmen will benefit from their first year at Duke:
"I think Jason Williams will take his game to another level. I think Dunleavy will too. It will be a little bit tougher for Boozer to do it. He has to make more of a commitment because he wasn't there for the full year. He didn't even practice until a full college year - he'll have to learn some of those things. He hasn't run the course of a full college year. I think Nick and Casey will be contributors. Nick was a contributor last year. Casey is 220-pounds now. I think he'll be a good player right now. Even Andre (Buckner) will help us."

On the Atlantic Coast Conference next year:
"The ACC will be terrific. We have so many veterans, returning lettermen and so many teams intact. You look at the two teams that have won the last two national championships- they were both veteran teams. We have a chance to have more teams in the NCAA tournament and we have a greater shot of more teams advancing. I think we could get at least six teams in the NCAA tournament."

On Nate James:
"Certainly I think Nate can make the big jump. He gave us a toughness and was a double-figure scorer. When his knees are right, Nate's an outstanding player. Some days he can't even practice. When he's able to get reps in, he's really good."