Duke Takes Academics on the Road

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Ryan Kelly knows that he'll be tested Thursday night when Duke faces Arizona in the NCAA regional semifinals.

But that's not the only test the sophomore forward will be facing this weekend in Anaheim.

"Both Andre [Dawkins] and I have to take a Latin Class," he said. "We have to take quizzes on the road. Kenny proctors for us."

Kenny is Kenny King, a former Duke manager who joined the Blue Devil staff in 2002 as Student Life and Campus Relations Coordinator. He is the point man for the academic support team that helps the Blue Devil players juggle their athletic and academic responsibilities.

"The academic work doesn't stop when the players are on the road," King said.

"I have a psychology paper due and Kenny's all over me about it," Mason Plumlee said. "He's really good with deadlines and getting extensions. He stays on top of us."

Kelly and Plumlee are both superior students. The two sophomore big men earned academic All-ACC honors this year, along with senior Kyle Singler. Duke was the only ACC schools with more than two players honored.

But King is even more proud of the overall academic performance of the Blue Devil team. He notes rather matter-of-factly that "all four-year players graduate" and that the senior class of Singler, Nolan Smith and Casey Peters will continue that tradition.

That success is rather amazing considering that Duke spends most springs traveling around the country, playing deep into the NCAA Tournament. Players miss an extraordinary among of class time during the playoffs.

"Academics are tough, especially during the second semester," Mason Plumlee said. "I think we only missed three days of class in the fall, but in the spring - I didn't even have a class this week. Kenny keeps us on track and helps us get work done on the road. It's never easy when you miss class. You just have to adjust."

King said the adjustment begins with communications between the players and their professors.

"I tell our guys at the beginning of the semester that the most important thing that they can do it to build great relationship with their professors," he said. "Our guys embrace that and they do a pretty good job of connecting with their professors."

Duke caught a scheduling break this spring when the school's spring vacation fell on the week of the ACC Tournament.

"So that helps," King said. "This is our second straight week and hopefully, we'll make it three in a row."

It helps that Duke expects to make a deep tournament run every year. That means that King and the academic support staff can start preparing early.

"In the spring and fall, we sit down and put together class schedules that they can handle with all the travel responsibilities that they will have," he said. "Obviously, they travel more in the spring, so when we look at classes, we're making sure that we try to minimize classes with large labs or a lot of additional discussions."

"That's the first step. The second step ... I encourage them to touch base with their professors every week. At Duke, especially this time of year, the whole campus is caught up with March Madness. A lot of times, people know our schedule instantaneously - as soon as we do. The faculty is great in working with our student athletes when they are representing the university."

King said that it's important that the players try to keep up as much as possible during tournament time.

"You're only looking at a three- or four-week window between the Final Four weekend and the start of final exams," he said. "So when March Madness is over, our students don't have a lot of time to catch up before the end of the semester."

To do that, the players must squeeze academic work into their busy travel schedule.

"As soon as we get back from the Selection Show, I'll send out an e-mail to all the Deans and the professors and let them know when we leave," King said. "Then the most important piece is that the players will follow up in class. I sit down with every single player before we leave to see what assignments they're going to miss and what assignments they can get a head start on. I'll have those meetings after practice, so when they get on the plane, they'll have all the materials they need. Several players take quizzes from the road. Several players will submit papers from the road. A lot of times, players will communicate with other classmates about group projects on the road.

"We just had a five and a half hour plane ride out here to Anaheim," King pointed out. "Our players, as soon as we took off, every single one of them had their laptop open or they had readings in front of them. They were working on different assignments."

Sophomore Seth Curry was one of the players who used the flight time to catch up on his studies.

"On the plane I was reading an article and writing a paper that was due when we get back," he said. "Throughout the weekend, it's about basketball and once the weekend is over, you've got to go back to class and catch up on stuff. You just try to use your time wisely."

That's easier to do today.

"The technology has evolved to allow us to do that," King said. "You're always learning and improving and finding better and more effective ways to get work done away from campus. We have been fortunate to be in postseason and play deep into the tournament for as long as I've been the academic advisor ... and well before me. So there is part of the process that we've refined and streamlined. At the same time, the technology has allowed us to take that one step further. Assignments that a decade ago we could not compete from the road, we can now complete."

Of course, the Duke players could get back on campus earlier ... all they have to do is lose. But even aside from his loyalties as a member of the Blue Devil staff, King doesn't think that's a good academic strategy.

"Having been fortunate to have worked with a team that won the national championship and also teams that have exited earlier than expected, I would say it's easier to get the players motivated after the season is over after a win in the national championship game than it is after a loss anywhere along the road," King said. "It's such investment - physically, mentally and especially emotionally. Once it's over, it's tough for these guys to refocus. After a loss - in addition to the adrenaline dropping off, there's also the disappointment versus the elation of winning the national championship.

"Last year, it was easier to motivate them."

Kelly is among the team's most accomplished academic performers - a two-time All-ACC academic selection. But he has his priorities in balance this spring.

"Obviously basketball is the central focus, but academics are important too," he said. "You have to stay on top of it. Once it comes to gametime, that all disappears."

Kelly does admit that one of his goals at Duke is to win a place on the ACC academic team four straight years.

"Oh yeah. I have two in a row so far and I think it would be pretty cool to have four," he said.

But somebody asked him to compare his back-to-back All-ACC academic award with the chance to win back-to-back national titles.

"That might top this," he answered.

King would probably point out that it's possible to do both. So far, the Blue Devil program has been able to compete at the highest levels in both the classroom and on the basketball court.

Duke Takes Academics on the Road

Players Mentioned

Seth Curry

Ryan Kelly

Casey Peters

Mason Plumlee

Kyle Singler

Nolan Smith

Duke information

Duke Takes Academics on the Road

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Players Mentioned

Seth Curry

Ryan Kelly

Casey Peters

Mason Plumlee

Kyle Singler

Nolan Smith

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Duke information