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Duke hopes to leave early Tournament exits in past

Nov 10, 2008 - 6:08 AM Presbyterian at No. 5 Duke, 7:00 pm EST

DURHAM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Fresh off guiding the United States men's basketball team to an Olympic gold medal, coach Mike Krzyzewski hopes to begin another successful season with Duke when the fifth-ranked Blue Devils host Presbyterian on Monday.

The contest is part of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer with the winner moving on to play either Georgia Southern or Houston on Tuesday.

Months after Duke was ousted in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by West Virginia, Krzyzewski helped the "Redeem Team" claim gold in Beijing as the Americans went unbeaten during their run.

But the future Hall of Fame coach has not enjoyed similar success recently with the Blue Devils, who have failed to make it past the first weekend of the NCAAs in two straight seasons. Duke had made nine straight regional semifinal appearances prior to 2007.

The Blue Devils return four of their five starters and will be amongst the top contenders in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. The only starter lost was DeMarcus Nelson, who led the team in scoring at 14.5 points per contest.

Presbyterian, which has joined the Big South Conference for the new campaign, went 5-25 as an Independent team last season in its first campaign in Division I play.

Al'Lonzo Coleman averaged 11.2 points last season and returns as the Blue Hose's leading scorer.

It is the first-ever meeting between the two teams.