CHUCK LIDDY-cliddy@newsobserver.com
Duke's Lance Thomas (42) hugs coach Mike Krzyzewski as Brian Zoubek (55) holds the National Championship trophy.
DURHAM -- Mike Krzyzewski never mentioned North Carolina's football team, not once. He didn't have to. The context of the Duke basketball coach's comments on agents and their influence was abundantly clear.
"I don't think it's easy to prevent a kid, whether you have one kid or a dozen kids, from doing something that's wrong," Krzyzewski said Thursday, in response to a question about whether it is easier to keep track of 12 scholarship basketball players than 70 or 80 scholarship football players.
"I think it takes ... you have to develop a family culture, a team culture, that doesn't accept that. Because obviously, if something happened, somebody knows about it. And you would hope that somebody in your culture, not necessarily just a coach, would stop that. Hopefully you would hire people that would not become a part of another culture which would subvert the culture you're trying to build.
"I don't know what the answer to that is, when you trust somebody and that trust is not warranted. These things can happen to anybody."
Three North Carolina players have been dismissed from the team and associate head coach John Blake resigned as a result of the NCAA's ongoing probe into the UNC football program, part of which focuses on improper benefits received from agents.
Krzyzewski said he feels confident in the way Duke handles agents, relying heavily on Duke law professor Paul Haagen and Krzyzewski's personal relationships with many agents, but that it requires commitment from players and their parents to do the right thing.
"There are potential problems in anything, whether it be agents, academic work, social behavior, off the court and all that, so you counsel guys about that," Krzyzewski said. "What we've tried to do over the years is make sure that agents who are interested in our guys go through Dean Haagen, Paul Haagen, here at Duke. We've done that since 1986."
Singler ready to go: Krzyzewski announced his team will begin practice fully healthy, a declaration that extends to senior swingman Kyle Singler, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on his left knee on Sept. 3.
Duke needed Singler to be ready because the Blue Devils have only 10 scholarship players on the roster.
"I'm practicing," Singler said. "I'm not 100 percent, but I'm close."
Krzyzewski said Singler weighs 235 pounds, up from 217 at this time last year.
"Kyle is full force in our workouts and all that," Krzyzewski said. "His operation, that 'scope' is fine. You'll see a guy ready to take on another level of playing."
Up to speed: Freshman point guard Kyrie Irving was not a part of Duke's fourth national title, but he understands the expectations the defending champions will face this season and how the Blue Devils are attempting to manage them.
"We're not looking to be good," Irving said. "We're looking to be great, but we will not be great right away."
