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THURSDAY
DECEMBER 6, 2001

54


Blue

beware

ARUN
GOPAL

Michigan vs. No. 1 Duke Saturday, 2 p.m.
Added bulk
gives Dunleavy
new imension
By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Editor

Crisler Arena

Academic restrictions
hold back Notre Dame

Mike Dunleavy was sick of being pushed around.
While Duke's lanky swingman proved to be a
deadly 3-point shooter last season, as well as a cre-
ative slasher, Dunleavy found himself on the losing
end of battles in the paint because of his wiry, 6-9,
195-pound frame.
But Dunleavy showcased his toughness on the
biggest stage last season in the national title game in
the ultimate coming-out party. The Lake Oswego,
Ore. native's hot shooting single-handedly gave Duke
a lift it desperately needed as he added 18 of his
then-career high 21 points in the second half to help
Duke survive a late Arizona rally and win the covet-
ed crown.
This year, his junior campaign, Dunleavy wanted
to be bigger and better.
Committing himself tirelessly to a strength pro-
gram over the summer, and putting on 25 extra
pounds of muscle, Dunleavy is ready to hold his own
in the low post for the defending national champion
Blue Devils.
"I've sensed a real maturity and toughness this
year in Mike," said Duke assistant coach Chris
Collins. "One thing he wanted to add is not being
knocked around and not having people be as physi-
cal with him as they were earlier in his career. Now,
when he goes in and bangs with bigger bodies, he
can withstand the toughness."
His garnering MVP honors at the Maui Invitatibn-
al last month indicates that Dunleavy is now the one
knocking people around. Collins said that Dunleavy
is "really looked up to as a go-to-guy as opposed to a
complementary player," not only on the court, but as
one of Duke's co-captains.
"He's taking over leadership of our team with

AP PHOTO

Duke junior forward Mike Dunleavy has added 25 pounds of extra muscle, and plans to use it Saturday.

(Shane) Battier gone," Collins said. " He's taking over
offensively and defensively and in the lockerroom."
One of the main aspects that Duke players admit is
missing from last year is the ultimate leader in Batti-
er, whom Collins said was "the glue that made all the
pieces come together."
Dunleavy, who was Battier's roommate last year,
picked up a few pointers from the No. 6 pick in this
year's NBA Draft. Along with junior Jason Williams,
Dunleavy is expected to go above and beyond their
roles last season.
"Shane was such a dynamic leader that its hard for
one guy to say, 'Hey I'm going to be Battier,' "
Collins said. "It's different for (Dunleavy and
Williams), as now they have to step forward and take
over the team. Mike's done a good job and I think as

season goes on - I think you'll see him lead this
team."
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker sees Dunleavy as
an imposing threat, and is cognizant of the small for-
ward's tremendous versatility.
"Dunleavy may be playing the best basketball of
all those guys," Amaker said. "He's a very tough
matchup, right out of that Shane Battier mold. He's a
difficult guy to defend - 6-foot-9, he shoots, he
passes and is a kid who adds a lot to their team"
While the Blue Devils are struggling from behind the
arc - shooting a dismal 30 percent - the most dan-
gerous aspect that the Duke backcourt brings is their
ability to penetrate and score or find the open man.
And when that open man is Dunleavy, he won't be
afraid to bang with anyone to get to the basket. -

When No. 1 Notre Dame
defeated No. 2 West Vir-
ginia (remember Major
Harris?) in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl,
the undefeated Fighting Irish were
crowned national champions.
A big reason for Notre Dame's
success that season was the play of
its quarterback, Tony Rice. Rice
fought tremendous odds - he was
an academic non-qualifier his fresh-
man year - to lead the Fighting
Irish to their 1Ith national title in
school history.
When Bob Davie was fired as
Notre Dame's coach this past Sun-
day, it got me thinking about Rice
and his exploits in South Bend. In
particular, I couldn't help but be
struck by how different Notre Dame
is now than it was a dozen years
ago.
Rice is the perfect example - in
1988, he helped Lou Holtz win a
national championship and cement-
ed his place as a legend in Notre
Dame lore. These days, Tony Rice
(or someone in a situation similar to
the one he was in) wouldn't stand a
chance of being admitted to Notre
Dame.
In the 1980s, Notre Dame wasn't
much more than a football school.
Consequently, Holtz could recruit
pretty much whomever he wanted,
including non-qualifiers like Rice.
He knew that the university would
admit just about all of his recruits,
so he was able to bring blue-chip
talent such as Jerome Bettis, Bryant
Young and Tim Brown to South
Bend. It's no surprise that Notre
Dame was a perennial national title
contender throughout the late 1980s
and early 1990s.
But - and this is something that
I think Notre Dame supporters have
yet to grasp - things have changed
at Notre Dame. In the latest U.S.
News and World Report rankings of
colleges and universities, Notre
Dame was ranked No. 19. That puts
the Fighting Irish ahead of other
world-renowned private Schools
such as Vanderbilt and Georgetown
(and six spots higher than Michi-
gan).

In other words, in terms of aca-
demic standards, Notre Dame and
Vanderbilt are roughly on a par with
each other. When's the last time
Vanderbilt had a good football
team? Heck, when's the last time
Vanderbilt won six games?
Granted, Notre Dame's football
tradition is far superior to Vander-
bilt's. So on average, the Fighting
Irish should be able to get better
players than the Commodores. But,
Notre Dame fans don't care if the
Fighting Irish outrecruit Vanderbilt
- they expect Notre Dame to outre-
cruit Florida State, Michigan and
Texas. That's just not possible, con-
sidering how strict Notre Dame's
admissions requirements have
become.
I remember hearing a few years
ago that Notre Dame has a freshman
calculus requirement - all incom-
ing students (with no exceptions)
must pass freshman calculus. This
single requirement prevented Davie
from signing T.J. Duckett and David
Terrell, both of whom really wanted
to go to Notre Dame, but neither of
whom could pass a calculus class if
their lives depended on it.
Even if the Irish find a topflight
recruit who can pass calculus, they
must then convince that player that
Notre Dame - with its mediocre
facilities, horrendous Northern Indi-
ana climate and ridiculously hard
schedules - is a better choice than
any other school.
Now all of this isn't to say that
Davie is without blame for his
struggles. He made his share of mis-
takes - he was sued for age-dis-
crimination a few years back - but
he still won nearly 60 percent of his
games over a five-year span, with
all of the obstacles I've just
described.
But that wasn't nearly good
enough for Notre Dame, so Davie
got the boot on Sunday. What I find
ironic is that the Fighting Irish are
now talking to Stanford coach
Tyrone Willingham, whose record at
Stanford was 35-33-1 entering this
season.
See GRIND, Page 8A

Michigan's main problem: Containing Boozer

By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Editor
Just thinking about how many
weapons No. 1 Duke has in its arsenal
makes Michigan coach Tommy Amaker
quiver.
"They don't appear to have any
weaknesses; said a
sighing Amaker BASKETBALL
about Duke's four
preseason Nai- Notebook
smith Award can-
didates. "It's almost like you have to
pick your poison."
One poison that the Wolverines defi-
nitely don't want to swallow is junior
center Carlos Boozer - one Blue Devil
who could present major matchup prob-
lems for the depth-stricken frontcourt of
the Wolverines. The two teams battle
this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Crisler Arena.
And with Boozer in the lineup, it will
be an uphill climb for Michigan.
Boozer, who as a freshman scorched
the Wolverines for 25 points and 10
rebounds in his visit to Crisler Arena
two years ago, is playing the best bas-
ketball of his career and is emerging as
one of Duke's numerous go-to-guys.
"I just try to do everything" Boozer
said. "I want to show my size, make you
hear my voice. It's important for me to
finish my opportunities, while staying
active on the boards and blocking shots."
Boozer has done just that in this
young season, grabbing ACC Player of
the Week honors last week for averag-
ing 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in
wins over No. 7 Iowa and Clemson.
The Juneau, Alaska native was riding
the momentum of four straight double-
doubles heading into last night's game
against Temple, and don't think that he
isn't catching Michigan's attention.
"You've got Boozer on the inside and
he's a real force there," Amaker said.
In the previous two meetings with
Michigan, the penetration of the
always-dangerous Duke backcourt has
given Boozer plenty of easy buckets.
His career 60-percent field goal per-
centage ranks him second in Duke his-
tory behind Elton Brand.
"I've just got to play incredibly
smart," said Michigan ceyter and senior
tri-cantain Chris Young. who will have

already- limited frontcourt depth
may be challenged even further as
the possibility continues to increase
that injury-plagued center Josh
Moore will have season-ending sur-
gery. Moore sat down with Amaker
this week for what he called an
"interesting meeting" and discussed
the sophomore's role on the team and
what Moore should do.
"This team is trying to find its identi-
ty," Moore said. "And they need to
know if I'm in or out. If I can't be con-
sistent because of my health, then
maybe I'm not the best thing for the
team right now"
Moore, who intended to practice yes-

terday, said he'd speak with the coaches
again and make a final decision in the
next few days.
WRAPPED UP: At practice yesterday,
senior Leon Jones and sophomore
Bernard Robinson were wearing protec-
tive braces on their left and right hands,
respectively. While neither Jones nor
Robinson have an injured shooting
hand, Jones said that the wrapping still
affects his ability to dribble and that he
still needs a few more days to get into
game shape.
Robinson said that neither his lacerat-
ed hand nor the lingering effects of
mono will restrict him from playing.
Avery Queen received treatment on

his ankle yesterday, but he's still look-
ing forward to his matchup with All-
American Jason Williams - who lit
up the Wolverines for 20 points and
seven assists on 8-12 from the field
last season.
"I'm ready for it," said Queen, who
scored two points on 1-8 shooting last
time against Williams. "He's a good
player but I'm not going to back down."


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