Good Morning Blue Devil Nation! Monday Musings has returned as have I after a few days of vacation which helped recharge my batteries. As it turns out I left the Triangle just before the earthquake and then Wilmington, North Carolina before the hurricane but I now must face the storm ahead.
The coming storm is not necessarily a bad one mind you for I am talking about wall to wall coverage of Duke Football and Basketball which begins this week and ends around April before I recharge again for recruiting. It's time for football and Duke takes on Richmond at 7:00 in Wallace Wade Stadium this Saturday.
Duke opens with Richmond
Duke has dropped two consecutive games to the Spiders and that has left a bad taste in the mouths of fans. Richmond is not a game you schedule when you want a gimme and they come in 7.5 underdogs according to Vegas Insider. While it is true they lost their coach this past week due to a DUI, teams sometimes rally during times of adversity.
The Blue Devils simply need to win. They are an ACC school and this is the first season we'll see all of Coach David Cutcliffes players since his arrival. Coach Cut has been able to redshirt kids, something that hasn't happened in the past at Duke unless there was an injury. As a program, Duke has made some much needed facility improvements, but the improvement most care about is on the field itself each Saturday afternoon or evening.
Basketball team returns
Duke went 4-0 during their China-Dubai trip but reading too much into anything is a mistake. The games in China were disjointed due to officiating and that never allowed for a game flow. In short, the experience itself was a big deal in that these trips grow young men off the court. Duke has yet to harness team chemistry but they got an idea of what it will take for that to come about. Duke ran a total of three offensive sets, so to think you have an idea of what the offense will look like could prove inaccurate. In fact, Duke held back a lot during the trip and the staff will sit down and break down film before deciding how they'll attack on offense this season.
Visits being set
The Blue Devils are in the process of setting up visits from their key basketball prospects and we'll be taking a look at those in our Premium section.
BDN Premium represented at the Elite 24
If you have followed Blue Devil Nation over the years, it is clear that we cover the recruiting trail like no other site. It's one of our calling cards in our premium section. This past week we covered the Elite 24 in Venice Beach, California where live updates from the four days appeared on our private (members only) message board. This week, we'll hear from Duke prospects and verbals and we'll start it off with a Rasheed Sulaimon interview.
BDN Premium Special, one week left!
We are currently running a special for new members of BDN Premium and this is the last week to save. A yearly membership is an all time low 85.00, 15% off our regular price and the other rates are discounted as well. Just go to the join page to see the prices and come on in for full site access. You'll be glad you did.
Changes are coming!
We've been flirting a bit with networks but have yet to make a decision on anything as of today. I can assure you that even if we remain independent [and we're more than okay with that] that site changes are in the works. Blue Devil Nation has set a new standard for other Duke sites to follow with our coverage and in turn made all of them better. Our ideas will continue to set the pace due to the best staff of any Duke site. Others can copy our ideas, format and style but they will never duplicate the genuine passion this site has for Duke Athletics.