NEW HOPE CREEK - For a brief time Thursday, the sun was shining over Duke while it poured over Carolina. But by the end of the day, a clear sky covered everything.
The basketball coaches on opposite sides of the creek spoke for the first time about the upcoming season, and they couldn't have been more different. They talked about last year and this year and strategy and tempo and freshmen and seniors. And then they both talked about the one thing on the minds of sports fans all across the state.
Football.
Or more specifically, agents.
And once again, we saw how completely opposite the coaches at the center of the best rivalry in all of college sports are at their core. Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams are nothing alike. They live eight miles apart, but they might as well live on opposite coastlines and not creekbanks.
This week, the coaches of all the Big Four programs are meeting the media for the first preseason look at the programs. Of course Duke and Carolina went on the same day.
Krzyzewski went first, walking to a podium dressed in sweats and full of optimism about the new season. He and his program will hang a banner tonight. Well, they'll actually hang four from last year's mythical ACC regular season title, the ACC Tournament title, a Final Four banner and the NCAA championship banner.
He was happy as he could be, talking about the new kids and the returning upperclassmen, talking about how Duke will run more this year and play full-court defense. And then he was asked about agents.
"The vast majority of agents are reputable people," he said. "They're pros. A lot of them are good friends and have represented our players over the years. And those who have not, I've gotten to know through USA Basketball, a lot of them. The guys I know I trust. I would hope that there's not this wave of crucifying agents, because that's not right. Most of them are great guys and great people."
Like we said, the sun was out over Duke for much of the day. Unlike in Chapel Hill, where Williams walked into the first presser of the preseason dressed in coat and tie and with a wry look on his face. He talked about last year and the struggles of his longest season ever as a coach. They'll hang no banners at Carolina this week.
He was as happy as he had to be. Williams talked about his freshmen and his returning players and how he might alter his own approach to how he looks at basketball this year. And then he was asked about agents.
"I don't like agents," he said. "Even the good ones. I don't like them. I tell them 'You're the best in a terrible profession.'
"I had one player come to me one time and said he was going to law school and was thinking about becoming an agent. I said "Go talk to somebody else. I will never speak to you again.' And I wouldn't have. There is no way in Hades he would've ever had one of my players."
Williams said his agent is his wife, Wanda.
Across the creek, agents have been known to sit behind the Duke bench.
All posturing aside, the two coaches agree on the dangers of agents and their runners getting too close to college athletes. And the ongoing NCAA football investigation at Carolina was the target of not-too veiled comments both coaches made Thursday.
Williams said he personally watches everything in his program, checks every free ticket list and knows every person hanging around the locker room. Krzyzewski said he lectures the kids and their parents and reminds the players that runners might actually be people you think are friends.
In the end, they both said it came down to running clean programs no matter what the sport. Krzyzewski said you had to hire good people, make them a part of a family, a culture, so that when someone runs afoul of the family, someone would know it.
"Whether you have 12 (players) or 80 or a hundred, we all have a responsibility to try to do what we can to stop it, including the agents," he said.
Both said, in the end, there's no way to know what all the players are doing all the time. They agree on that much.
"You have no way of monitoring everything they do every second of every day," Williams said. "And yet, that's what you want to do and what you're held accountable for in some cases. It's not an easy deal."
They agree about a lot of things, Roy and K, but what makes them the best at what they do is what makes them individuals. They run the top two basketball programs in America, and no one doubts the good intentions of either. And no one can argue with the results.
They live eight miles apart, and they are as different as night and day. But you can jump across the creek between them.
Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com Duke
2009-10 record: 35-5 (13-3).
Key players lost: G Jon Scheyer, C Brian Zoubek, F Lance Thomas
Key additions: G Seth Curry, G Kyrie Irving, G Tyler Thornton, F Josh Hairston
Possible starting lineup: PG Nolan Smith, G Seth Curry, F Kyle Singler, F Mason Plumlee, F Miles Plumlee.
Biggest issue: Duke must reload without a true center, something Duke has gotten used to over the years. But there's no Zoubek now, and despite the return of two key starters, the Devils will resemble teams of previous seasons more than last year's NCAA championship team.
Coach's quote: "To 'repeat' is a bad word. I remember when Jerry Colangelo asked me to coach the national team again, I said to him 'It's not going to be the same.' And he said 'Yeah, isn't that great'?" - Mike Krzyzewski on defending the NCAA title. North Carolina
2009-10 record: 20-17 (5-11).
Key players lost: F Deon Thompson, F Ed Davis, G Will Graves, G Marcus Ginyard.
Key additions: F Harrison Barnes, G Reggie Bullock, G Kendall Marshall
Possible starting lineup: G Kendall Marshall, G Reggie Bullock, C Ty Zeller, F Harrison Barnes, F John Henson.
Biggest issue: Carolina will play three freshmen. Guard play will determine whether the Heels return to the elite level in the ACC, and outside shooting will once again be the biggest concern. Harrison Barnes will make up for a lot, though. He's the real deal.
Coach's quote: "A lot of my friends said "Hey that'll help make you a better coach.' I said I'd rather stay the bad coach I was before." - Roy Williams on last year.
