Duke's players 'hope for the best'

Waner, Smith express sadness, resolve

DURHAM -- Memo to Gail Goestenkors' replacement at Duke: Your soon-to-be new players are keeping your seat warm and the team focused while they wait for you to show up.

"I think the big challenge is exactly that ... making sure we do move forward," rising junior guard Abby Waner said. "While Coach G built this from the bottom up, the team will ultimately decide if we're successful or not."

No word yet on who will replace Goestenkors after 15 successful seasons and four Final Fours. Goestenkors accepted the Texas job on Tuesday.

California coach Joanne Boyle, a former Duke standout and former Goestenkors assistant, has the background to be considered.

Duke athletics director Joe Alleva could not be reached for comment on Goestenkors' successor the past two days, though in a statement released Tuesday he said he's already working on it.

Whatever the news is for Duke, the Devils are making sure they're looking ahead and not behind.

"I don't really think you can ask the next coach to be like Coach G," rising senior guard Wanisha Smith said. "She has to bring her own style to the game. You just hope she brings the same passion. You just hope for the best."

The Devils felt sad about losing a person they hold so dear, but they weren't caught unaware.

Two weeks before Goestenkors interviewed at Texas, she had prepared her team for the possibility when she told the Devils they'd likely start hearing rumors that she was looking at other jobs.

She also told the players to ignore the rumors and instead concentrate on the postseason. Waner and Smith said the rumors didn't force Duke's premature exit from the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils, a No. 1 seed, lost to eventual national runner-up Rutgers in the round of 16.

But, while Goestenkors, the 2007 Naismith Coach of the Year, weighed Texas' offer at the Women's Final Four in Cleveland, Waner said the Devils still tried to convince her to return, filling her cell phone with voice-mails and text messages.

On Tuesday, several players found out Goestenkors was leaving before she could speak to them. Smith said that's part of what made the 24 hours since then so confusing and emotional.

Smith said the Duke players would miss how easy Goestenkors was to talk to and how her passion for the game never dimmed.

"As a coach, she pulled [our passion] out of us and made us a better team," Smith said. "We're really going to miss her."

Duke's recruits from the 2007 class won't have that relationship with Goestenkors but all three assured Waner on Wednesday that they were still dedicated to Duke.

A Duke spokesman confirmed Wednesday that none of the three -- center Krystal Thomas from Orlando, Fla., and combo guard Jasmine Thomas of Fairfax, Va., both McDonald's All-Americans, and wing Karima Christmas of Houston -- had asked to be released from their letters of intent.

For the second week in a row, Waner led the push to reach out to the recruits and keep them informed about what was happening with Goestenkors.

"I know it must be really hard for the girls coming in," Waner said. "Coach G, by no means, was intending to hurt anyone but that's what happened. We don't want them to feel a sense of abandonment. That's important to us with or without Coach G."

The Devils began life without Goestenkors as soon as she and her staff left a Tuesday meeting, held at a player's home, where she announced her decision.

The players stayed and talked. They agreed that change doesn't have to be a bad thing, even one as painful as this.

They agreed that they should reach out to the recruits again.

They agreed that they wanted to know about and, if possible, be involved in the process of selecting a new Duke coach.

The players said as much when they met with Alleva and Duke associate athletics director Jacki Silar on Wednesday. Waner said they know that's asking a lot, but it's another way they're reaching for the future.

"Moving forward is not going to drop our goals and expectations from a national championship level," Waner said. "I think that has helped a lot."

(Staff writer Rachel Carter contributed to this report.)