The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the parents, fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The Sweet 16/Elite 8 are taking place in 4 cities around the country and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of access in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from DC with some Duke locker room interviews
SO G/F Isaiah Evans
Earlier this month you were named 3rd-team all-ACC: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It means a lot: it is always nice to get recognized.
Your team is 27-0 when you have made at least 3 threes in a game: what makes your 3-PT shooting so crucial to your team’s success? It just allows us to force the opposing defense to spread out a lot.
What makes Jon Scheyer such a great coach? He understands the game at a different level.
Is Cameron Boozer just the next 1 in a long line of great Duke players or is he at another level? Most of the great players in Duke history have won at least 1 title so we will have to see what he does in the weeks ahead.
What do you know about St. John’s? They play hard on defense and have a lot of physical guys who attack the paint
Associate head coach Chris Carrawell
You were ACC POY in 2000 and won 4 straight ACC regular season titles: how were you able to have so much success as a player? I had a lot of talent around me and guys who played for each other on both ends of the court. We also had a pretty good coach in Mike Krzyzewski!
Since you might face UConn in the Elite 8, what do you remember about losing to them in the 1999 NCAA title game? (Long pause while he stared at me) It is still a sore spot for me because it was such a tough loss. We were 1 game away from the title but ran into a great UConn team with guys like Rip Hamilton. As for the Elite 8, 1st we must 1st take care of business vs. St. John’s.
What makes Jon Scheyer such a great coach? He had an amazing feel for the game as a player. It does not always transfer to being a coach, but he hit the jackpot.
Is Cameron Boozer just the next 1 in a long line of great Duke players or is he at another level? He is in the upper echelon: I would put his freshman year up there as 1 of the 2-3 best we have ever had at Duke, especially when you consider he is doing it at age 18 against the schedule we had this season. Hopefully we still have a long way to go…but he has been even better than advertised.
What do you know about St. John’s? They are an amazing team and 1 of the hottest in the country. They won the Big East and have 1 of the best coaches ever in Rick Pitino: it seems like he has been coaching college basketball during my entire life, and he even recruited me to play for him when he was coach at Kentucky. It is criminal that Zuby Ejiofor did not make any All-American teams because he is 1 of the best players in the country. They have veterans like Bryce Hopkins who put the team 1st and relentless players like Dylan Darling. They play hard and play together so it will be 1 hell of a Sweet 16!
Check back for a lot more access all weekend long!
