Daniel Ewing

So there's a changing face in college basketball. Actually there are hundreds of changing faces in college basketball. Early entry, guys coming to school for a year or two... whatever. Its weird, whereas you used to get to see kids grow up and become great players, now they stick around for a couple of years and jump to the NBA on potential and upside.

In reality, though, the majority of kids don't actually make the jump early. You don't hear too much about those kids because, well, they aren't the ones the media is trying to latch onto to make a buck. Hey, Chris Paul is an all-american, and is gonna be a great NBA player. So what. He's been in school for two years, is probably gonna go pro, hasn't improved his game a bit, and didn't win a damn thing. You sure do hear a lot about him though, don't you?

What about a kid who stayed for 4 years, did whatever he needed to do for his team, was a member of 3 ACC tournament champion teams, is the NCAA active career wins leader with 115 wins, went to a Final Four and has struggled with his own personal crisis without telling anyone or calling attention to himself? That's Daniel Ewing, and that's what a young man is supposed to be.

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/2005ncaa/story/2246901p-8627171c.html

The Kid and I started calling players on the Duke team "Our Guy" during our first year at Duke. I took Shane Battier as I'd worshiped the guy before I got here, and Kid, being the rookie he was at the time, took Casey Sanders. Now the colonel was an integral part of the National Championship team of 2001, but he certainley wasn't a star. When Shane graduated, I needed a new guy.

Enter Daniel Ewing as a freshman in the fall of 2001. He was so silky smooth to watch play, and just looked so at ease on the court. Watch a Duke game sometime... do you ever actually see Daniel sweat? No.

So I took the D-Ew as my guy, and he did not disappoint. He was a money sharpshooter as a freshman as the team won another ACC title. As a sophmore he started a number of games and played great all year. He became a much better defender as the season wore on, and eventually tore up the ACC tourney and took home MVP honors. He carried the team to that title. It was awesome. His junior season, Daniel was to Chris Duhon what Chris Duhon had been to Jason Williams. He was a go-to marksman that was always in the right place at the right time. An amazing season that ended in the Final Four, but you could see that Daniel had made such strides, and most importantly, was the kind of guy who would win you games.

Then came the final season for Daniel... what a lot of guys don't stay for in college anymore... a fourth year. He is finishing his degree in African-American Studies, and at the same time is a star for the Blue Devils who does anything that is asked. When the season started, and I was finally able to purchase a #5 jersey in the Duke bookstore, it was apparent that Daniel was going to have a new role this year. With Sean Dockery being our only true point guard, Daniel was going to need to handle the ball, and run some offense as Dockery (The Kid's guy, now, by the way) couldn't do it alone. Of course, what none of us were prepared for was Dock's knee injury that forced Daniel to be the primary point guard for a good month of the season. Did Daniel complain? No... that's not Daniel. He let his scoring go down a bit, but took the reigns and played the point. That's not to say that Daniel didn't hit HUGE shots against Wake, UNC, and in the ACC Tourney, but he had a different role and he went with it. In his final home game, on Senior Night, against Miami, Daniel recorded his first career triple double with 14 and 10. My eyes teared up as he walked off the Cameron floor for the last time into the arms of Coach K.

That performance speaks volumes about Daniel's 4 years at Duke... always doing what needed to be done, always performing in the clutch. Now he's making one last NCAA tourney run, and wouldn't you know... there he was in the second round dropping in 22 and carrying the Devils into the Sweet 16. Now Luci Chavez has written a story in the N&O that tells us that Daniel's mom has been in ill health for most of his career here. He never told anyone. He never used it as an excuse. He was true to himself and his family and his faith. And now he's got a chance to carry Duke back to one more Final Four. One more shot at the Title.

Did I mention he'll be in his home state for the Austin Regional... just 2 hours from home?

I'm not saying that Duke will make the Final Four, but I wouldn't bet against Daniel Ewing after four years of growing up at Duke on the court and in the classroom.

I wouldn't bet against Daniel Ewing in a basketball game.

Or in life.

And Daniel... if you ever see this... there's a #5 jersey that has a frame waiting for it. I won't be wearing it after this season. All it needs now is your signature... then it goes on my wall, so someday I can tell my kids about my favorite Duke player of all time.