Duke Lax Moves On To Championship Weekend!

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PHILADELPHIA, PA - MAY 29: Duke Blue Devils defense Kenny Brower (29) passes the ball during the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship game between the Duke Blue Devils and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on May 29, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Of course, it doesn’t get talked about as much as men’s basketball, but Duke lacrosse has been nearly as strong as basketball, and that’s remarkable.

The program was nearly destroyed in 2006 when Crystal Mangum made her notorious false allegations about being gang-raped. Those were disproved first by DNA, second when then-state attorney general Roy Cooper took over the case and shut it down, third by the disbarment and conviction of corrupt D.A. Mike Nifong, and fourth, for the diehard true believers, including some on the faculty, when Mangum herself finally confessed in 2024 that she lied, and asked for forgiveness.

Among the many casualties of the whole fiasco was highly successful coach Mike Pressler, who was forced out.

He was replaced by John Danowski, and in retrospect, that may have been former A.D. Joe Alleva’s best hire.

Danowski not only brought the program’s reputation back, he won three national championships (2010, 2013, and 2014), and after Duke knocked Georgetown out of the tournament Sunday to get back to the Final Four, a.k.a. Championship Weekend, now he has a chance to win another

Duke won 16-6, and will face #1 Princeton in Charlottesville on Saturday.

Danowski is 72 now, and he may not be coaching all that much longer, but Blue Devils fans should be deeply grateful for all that he has done. He is in the pantheon of Duke greats with Mike Krzyzewski, Vic Bubas, Wallace Wade, Eddie Cameron, Al Buehler, and, for our money, David Cutcliffe. He’s been absolutely brilliant, and he’s done it the right way.

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