Duke will be well represented this summer on a variety of US teams.

Incoming freshman Rasheed Sulaimon was named to the USA men’s basketball U18 National Team. After more than a week of training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, he made the final cut of 12 (from 23 players).

Sulaimon and his US U18 teammates will compete in the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship from June 16-20 in Sao Sebastiáo do Paraiso, Brazil. He will be playing for current Florida head coach Billy Donovan, Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, and VCU head coach Shaka Smart.

In the McDonald’s All-American Game, he won the three-point shootout.

Rising junior Natasha Anasi rejoined the U23 Women’s National Soccer Team. They will travel to Norway for a Three Nations Tournamennt featuring the US, Norway, and Sweden.

They will face Sweden on June 15th, followed by matches against Norway (June 17th and June 19th).

This past season, Anasi was named to the first team All-America and the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Stefanie Fee, a 2012 Duke graduate, was named to the US National Field Hockey Team. However she was not named to the 16 member Olympic Team.

She talks about how she got the news:

“After our game [in the Women's National Championship], I was walking to go hit the locker room and I walked by Lee [Bodimeade] and he pulled me aside,” Fee recalled.  “My heart started pounding and I had no idea what to expect.  He told me that I had been selected to the 2012-13 National Squad and shook my hand.  I was pretty much shocked and ecstatic.   I don’t remember anything he said after that point.”

The fall sports season has officially come to an end at Duke. Basketball season has fully heated up, with conference play set to begin in less than month.

Let’s take a look back at what the Fall of 2011 was all about:

Women’s Soccer

It was a great season for the Duke women’s soccer team that just fell short of their expectations, a 1-0 loss to undefeated Stanford in the College Cup final (their first trip since 1992). The team finished the season 22-4-1. They won the ACC regular season title for just the second time in school history. The Blue Devils beat nine ranked opponents. Head coach Robbie Church was named the Southeast Region Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Duke had a record six players to earn All-ACC honors.

Natasha Anasi, a sophomore defender, is one of 15 semifinalists for the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy, the most prestigious award given out in collegiate soccer (the first in Duke history). She was named the ACC’s top defender, as she started all 27 matches this season. Anasi was one of the six Duke All-ACC players. She was second on the team in minutes played and helped the team reach school records in shutouts (16), wins (22), and conference wins (8). She was also named to the first-team All-America team.

Kaitlyn Kerr also earned All-America honors (third-team). She was also an All-ACC selection and was named to the College Cup All-Tournament Team. In just two years, she has become the Blue Devils all-time leading scorer in NCAA Tournament games with six (she scored five this season). In her breakout season, Kerr recorded 11 goals, five assists, and 27 points in the midfield.

Both Anasi and Kerr were joined on the All-Southeast Region team by Tara Campbell and Kelly Cobb, who earned second-team honors. Campbell, the junior goalie, recorded a school record 14 shutouts while being named to the All-ACC second-team. Cobb, a freshman, scored 11 goals, had nine assists, and 31 points. Her goals and points were a Duke freshmen record. She also had six game-winning goals.

» Continue reading “Duke Fall Sports Recap”