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Trepagnier earns respect

By BRIAN LANDMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 24, 2001

PHILADELPHIA -- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski may have been guilty of exaggeration Friday afternoon, but he genuinely admires USC senior guard Jeff Trepagnier.

In last season's meeting between the teams, Trepagnier had 15 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in 40 minutes. He also had two acrobatic blocks against forward Chris Carrawell.

"In some respects, I'm glad Chris Carrawell is not with us right now because he had bad dreams about Trepagnier for about three months after that," Krzyzewski said. "Those old movies, Godzilla and Rodan, he kept dreaming of this huge bird, Rodan, coming in and blocking all of his shots, and when he looked up it was Trepagnier. It took a lot of couch work to get him through that."

For the record: Carrawell, the eventual ACC player of the year, hit 10 of 16 shots for a game-high 24 points in the Blue Devils' 81-68 win. But Trepagnier was a force.

"I look forward to playing defense because my defense creates my offense," said Trepagnier, who likely will cover Duke sharpshooter Jason Williams.

INJURY UPDATE: Duke sophomore forward Mike Dunleavy, who pinched a nerve in his neck and right (shooting) arm in the opening moments of the region semifinal, said he's improving.

"I feel pretty good, obviously not great the way I did two days ago, but it's just a little sore and stiff," he said. "It didn't really bother me during the night when I was sleeping on it. I just think the next 24 hours it will really loosen up for me. One of the problems I had last night was lifting it to shoot. It kind of felt like a 5-pound weight was hanging on my elbow."

MIGHT HAVE BEEN: USC coach Henry Bibby, who is from Franklinton, N.C., said he would have preferred to stay in ACC country when he played, but in the 1960s the league had some academic entrance requirements that some critics thought limited the opportunities for blacks.

"I grew up with integration and segregation so I never got the opportunity to consider going to Duke or N.C. State or Wake Forest," he said. "I really wanted to go to the University of North Carolina. ... Things didn't work out that way and I ended up going out to Los Angeles and that was probably the best thing that happened for me."

He was the starting point guard on three UCLA championship teams (1970-72).

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