Blue Devil 360

As Duke student-athletes are returning to campus how do we keep them safe while also getting them ready to play and give them an opportunity to play this season? What are the logistics of bringing our student-athletes back to campus? What’s the testing process? What will practices look like? This week on the show we chat with Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Athletic Facilities, Game Operations and Championships, Bob Weiseman on how he and his staff have been preparing the past few months to ensure safety measures are being put into place. 

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After four decades of service as both a coach and administrator at Duke University, Jacki Silar will retire from her position as Senior Associate Director of Athletics at the end of June. Since her arrival at Duke in 1979, Silar has served as an assistant women’s basketball coach, spent 15 seasons as the head field hockey coach then later went on to have an administrative role with 24 head coaches. Silar is also the lone Senior Woman Administrator in Duke Athletics history, holding the post since its inception in the 90s. Silar and host, Rebecca Fiorentino talk about her transition from coaching to administration, how the athletic department has evolved in the 41 years she’s been at Duke, plus advice she has for future student-athletes, coaches and administrators. 

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This week on the show Chris Edwards interviews 6 guys who prepared for the MLB Draft together after their baseball season came to an abrupt end due to Covid-19 concerns. Thomas Girard, Matt Mervis, Michael Rothenberg, Wil Hoyle, Joey Loperfido and Bryce Jarvis worked out, played ping-ping, Fortnite, came up with trick shots, and yes finished their class work assignments all under the same roof - for 12 weeks. 

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This week on the show - her transition to college was an unusual one and now her transition into the professional world is no different. With the sudden end of the 2020 season, senior golfer Ana Belac was unable to close out her Duke career the way she wanted and head back to the NCAA Championship to vie for a second straight title. Ana, who hails from Slovenia, has decided to make a dream come true and announced she is turning professional. No woman from Slovenia has ever gotten an LPGA Tour card, what would it mean to Ana to become the first? 

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How do student-athletes find the time to study abroad with their training requirements and responsibilities? This week on the show we’re teaming up with Stanford University to discuss a unique opportunity that a select number of both Duke and Stanford student-athletes get to participate in while in school. We’ll get the perspective from a volleyball player at Stanford and a rower at Duke who had the chance to visit Vietnam to be part of the summer service program and learn how that experience continues to impact their lives today. 

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Men’s Fencer Eoin Gronningsater and women’s swimmer Alyssa Marsh were named Duke’s Senior Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year. The pair joins a storied past of Duke students that have been recognized by the university for pairing athletic success with excellence in the classroom. Both share a lot in common including their major, their future plans, their ACE trip to Vietnam and both had their senior seasons cut short due to covid-19 concerns. What was the most interesting class Alyssa from San Diego, CA has ever taken at Duke? And how did Eoin the Brooklyn, NY native help raise over $30,000 dollars for the Fence For Fight Campaign.

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This week on the podcast, Rebecca Fiorentino and Chris Edwards catch up with head coach of the softball team Marissa Young, and head baseball coach Chris Pollard on how they handled the news of their seasons coming to an unexpected end. Both programs were destined for a special year. With the softball team off to its best start in program history and baseball living up to the early season hype of being ranked in the preseason polls for the third consecutive season. Hear how these coaches are keeping their teams connected while being distant, what the future looks like for baseball and how they’re using this time now to improve themselves and their teams.  

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This week on the podcast we head to Illinois to visit with women’s basketball senior Haley Gorecki then we head south to Texas to chat with senior Diver Nathaniel Hernandez. Haley was on the verge of participating in her first NCAA Tournament game after battling back from a series of injuries and Nathaniel was set to represent Duke for his 4th time at the NCAA Championships before the season came to an abrupt end amid the COVID-10 concerns. What is their new normal and how are choosing to look at this time with a different perspective and remembering what they were able to accomplish and not what they weren’t able to do.

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Duke Athletics’ Director of Behavior Health Dr. Shawn Zeplin joins Rebecca Fiorentino and Chris Edwards to discuss tips for dealing with your mental health during this time of social distancing, how can we as individuals be good neighbors and good teammates, and learning to embrace uncertainty amid the cancellations of sporting events and the larger national emergency. 

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We sat down with Sarah Nelson of Duke Volleyball and Peyton St. George of Duke Softball to talk about their time abroad with ACE Athletes. Nelson who traveled to South Africa and St. George who traveled to Vietnam discuss the experiences they had working and teaching kids about everything from computer science to sports to language and the opportunity to meet other student athletes from Stanford and experience other cultures together.

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