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Krzyzewski Addresses Duke's Honoring of Slain UNC Student
The Duke staff came up with the idea of the moment of silence, but decided the wearing of ribbons was best for the students.
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DURHAM, N.C. — Duke fans were just as passionate as ever Saturday night when North Carolina arrived at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
But the basketball game had a distinctly different feel, with many Duke fans wearing light blue ribbons in honor of UNC Student Body President Eve Carson, who was shot to death earlier in the week.
The game began with both teams lined up on the foul lines in front of their benches, facing each other in a moment of silence. Cameron Indoor Stadium was so quiet during that moment that you could hear the gentle clicks of cameras as photographers snapped a few discreet photographs.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday that the Blue Devils reached out to UNC about doing that moment of silence.
“We called the UNC basketball office to ask for a change in how we do things before the game,” Krzyzewski said.
“Usually in the ACC, we do it along the sidelines. Internationally, you go out. I knew Roy [Williams] would be familiar with that. I thought it’d be a good sign to have all of us go out. It’d also bring the crowd and teams together.”
The Duke coaching staff did not wear light blue ribbons in the game, a point quickly noticed by fans watching the game. Many e-mailed WRAL asking why the Duke staff did not wear the ribbons.
Asked by WRAL about that Monday, Krzyzewski responded: “With the ribbons, the students wore those. That’s something the students were doing. We were going to honor [Carson] with what we were doing before the game. I thought overall everybody there, Duke, North Carolina, everyone was on the same page.”
Krzyzewski said the idea of ribbons came up when he talked to the Duke students the night before the game.
“I said that’s something that’s great. They did everything well. It shows what student to student would do…,” he said. “It wasn’t something we as a staff did. I thought it was appropriate to have that distinction.”
UNC's Williams opened his teleconference Monday by praising Duke for what it did Saturday night in honoring Carson.
“Duke was gracious in the moment of silence, the wearing of ribbons,” Williams said. “To me, it showed what a great conference we have, what a great relationship we have.”
Each UNC player wore a black patch with “Eve” on it during the contest, and what happened to her was on the minds of the Carolina players.
“We knew she was a Carolina basketball fan,” guard Wayne Ellington, who had met Carson., said after the game. “We knew she’d be proud of us.”
“She was very popular,” said center Tyler Hansbrough. “She touched a lot of people.”
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