GREENSBORO— If laughter is the best medicine, then Monmouth University should come through tonight’s experience with flying colors.
Monmouth, in its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament, earned the dreaded No. 16 seed in the East Region. The Hawks will tip off against Duke tonight at 7:40 in the Greensboro Coliseum, and instead of dwelling on the fact that no top seed has ever lost to a No. 64, they’re just having a little fun.
“Many people have told me that they have the winner of the Monmouth-Duke game going all the way,”said Hawks head coach Dave Calloway with a straight face, drawing laughs.
“We see them on TV all the time and (freshman guard) Jason Krayl has had a shrine of Duke memorabilia in his room since he was growing up,”Calloway added. “Most of the players probably have some sort of Duke gear. I don’t know how many Duke players have Monmouth gear, but we can make that switch if they’d like to do so.”
The Hawks (21-9) hail from Long Branch, N.J., and actually know the Blue Devils quite well.
Krayl’s father, Ron, is an assistant coach on the Monmouth squad and played basketball with Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski in the early 1970s on an Armed Forces All-Star team.
“It was kind of funny growing up and my father telling stories about Coach Krzyzewski,”Krayl said. “The thing that impressed me most is how down to earth and how humble Coach K was when I had an opportunity to meet him. My dad knew him when there was no ‘Coach K,’ and through the years there’s been no change in the kind of person he is.”
Duke star Jason Williams also is no stranger. The point guard from Plainfield, N.J., played against Monmouth forward Steve Bridgemohan in high school. Bridgemohan’s team actually knocked off Williams’ squad in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament in 1997.
Williams got his revenge the next two seasons, leading St. Joseph’s High to state championships.
The New Jersey connection also extends to Monmouth star guard Rahsaan Johnson, who played a few minutes of basketball against Williams last summer in the Jersey Shore Basketball League.
He’s more than ready to do it again.
“I was really excited,”Johnson said. “There’s no better feeling in the world than to go out and play the No. 1 team in the nation and have the opportunity to showcase your talent in front of a national audience.”
Clearly, Johnson is the player Duke has to watch most closely.
The 6-foot junior earned Northeastern Conference Player of the Year honors, averaging 19.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists and two steals per game.
Monmouth’s other sharpshooter is Gerry Crosby, a 6-5 forward averaging 16.3 points per game. Crosby hit 61 3-pointers this season.
Crosby played the hero in the NEC Tournament title game last week. St. Francis of New York blew out to a 20-point lead in the second half and the Hawks’ tourney hopes were fading fast.
But Crosby scored 11 points in a game-ending 31-8 run that gave Monmouth a 67-64 victory. The Hawks, who led the NEC in defense allowing just 64.3 points per game, forced St. Francis into 1-for-15 shooting down the stretch.
Duke (29-4) landed in Greensboro thanks to a run of its own. The Blue Devils powered past North Carolina on Sunday in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament final on the strength of a 19-1 run late in the first half. That locked up the No. 1 seed.
The scariest moment from that game was the sight of Williams collapsing to the floor in pain, but his sprained ankle has healed.
“Jason Williams will be ready to go,”Krzyzewski said. “I’m encouraged about how quickly he has responded.”
Duke still won’t have starting center Carlos Boozer, recovering from a broken bone in his right foot, but the Blue Devils are 4-0 without their big man thanks to a trio of reserves.
Casey Sanders, Matt Christensen and Reggie Love, all afterthoughts on the roster, have played well in Boozer’s absence.
“The emergence of Casey, Reggie and Matt, everybody is so excited to see their progress,”Battier said. “Now is a time that a lot of teams stagnate. We seem to building at the right time and we’re very excited about playing in this tournament, even more so than last year.”
In the 2000 tournament, Duke trounced No. 16 Lamar in the first round. Florida A&M was the No. 16 victim in 1999, and Radford in 1998.
And while Duke beat those teams by an average of 31 points, the Devils won’t be taking any chances against Monmouth.
“We don’t take any team lightly,”senior Nate James said. “We’ve tried to watch as much film on Monmouth as possible, but most importantly we have to take care of Duke.”
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