Duke Cheats

That's sacrilege, especially for those in the school of thought that Duke basketball is as hallowed as UND football. Well, you already know what I think of Notre Dame football, so here goes:


I believe if Coach K doesn't break the rules, he definitely bends, skews and tweaks them. Lesser teams, coaches and programs might be decimated if they participated in such activity. Purdue doesn't play this team, so I have nothing to gain...I just don't think they're clean. Do I have evidence? Well, yes, but not directly. Here's my argument. Why have two of K's most notable branches in his coaching tree both been suspected of cheating by the NCAA? Because they learned from the best.

Quinn Snyder was run out of town because the allegations the NCAA brought up against Mizzou as well as the fact that once the Tigers were under the microscope, they could no longer win. Whispers of problems at Seton Hall and then Michigan were constantly rumoured...and now, there might be a formal investigation into Amaker's Harvard team because of potential violations.

I know, these guys are grown men and are responsible for their actions, and squeaky-clean K shouldn't be blamed everytime one of them gets a speeding ticket, but you learn a lot from a system. Krzyewski has accomplished some amazing things; his tournament record and 800 wins are jaw-dropping. Lot's of strategery involved in getting where he has gotten. But why haven't there been any successful coaches from under his wing? Problem for Mike's protoges is that they don't have the lee-way that the Blue Devils do (look back to an '04 investigation that no one seems to recall for proof). Here's the deal, the NCAA is as flexible and lenient as it can be for the big money makers of the college sports world. If it wasn't for these programs, Title IX, women's softball and other tremendously important programs wouldn't be possible. But unlike Durham, when you're at Missouri, you don't get warned, you get investigated.

I've had the argument with others, why does Duke need to cheat? They don't, but that didn't stop them from doing so, in my opinion. In the same way that Sanctions really didn't need to make phone calls to get guys to play for him at IU, K doesn't need to circumvent the rules to succeed...that doesn't mean he does not.

A few seasons back, the Dukies landed 4 McDs All-Americans in one class...and I don't care which school you're coaching, it's really tough to get 4 prima donnas to want to play on the same team. K has done it multiple times. I know they have tradition and not-so-subliminal reminders on commercials that Coach K(ommercial) is big time each time they turn on the TV, but, they also have a couple things against them that people don't ever seem to talk about.

Cameron Indoor, while kind of unique because it has hardwood panels throughout is still very tiny and not state-of-the-art. Duke's academic requirements (while not the same for everybody) are extremely high. The campus is simply filled with rich white kids (and only sprinkled with minorities)...and is located in the center of the woods in the south, between two not-so-large cities; not exactly urban. My point is, it's not the college basketball mecca that Dick Vital might see it as, especially through the eyes of a kid from an urban center.

My gut tells me that since a few years back (when he was regularly recruiting players that would leave after one-two seasons in Durham), Krzyewski's been smart enough to have done something Kelvin couldn't do- back away from the questionable practices, especially as they pertain to recruiting...so either he's wise enough to listen to the NCAA's whispers or not the egomaniac that many cheaters seem to be. And like I said before, they guy can coach, I just don't think it's all as white-washed as ESPN and Vital want us to believe in Krzyewskiville.