Read about Stanford's Jamila Wideman and her high school team from Amherst, MA. They were a talented team with a near-perfect record but a reputation for choking in the crunch of the state playoffs. Finally, after five straight years of disappointments, the Amherst Lady Hurricanes found they just might have what it took to go all the way. This is a fierce, funny, and intimate look into their minds and hearts during one very special season. A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. Click the book to the right to visit Amazon.com, the internet's largest bookstore, where you can purchase "In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle".

The "Definite Dozen"

• Responsible
• Respectable
• Loyal
• Honest

• Work Hard
• Play Smart
• Put the Team Before Yourself
• Have a Winning Attitude

• Be Coachable
• Accept Your Role
• Handle Success and Failure
• Be a Competitor

Pat Summitt

Pat Summitt has been called a living legend. As head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols, Summitt has taken her NCAA Division 1 women's basketball team to back-to-back national championships in 1996 and 1997, and five titles in a 10-year span. In Reach for the Summit, with the help of former Sports Illustrated writer Sally Jenkins, she draws from 24 years as a successful head coach to provide motivational advice for anyone who wants to succeed in sports, business, and life in general. Click the book to the right to visit Amazon.com, the internet's largest bookstore, where you can purchase "Reach for the Summit".

Dear Editor:
I am a high school basketball player. Winter is my favorite time of the year because it is basketball season. I want to share with your readers my thoughts on basketball.--T. Lynn, Pennsylvania

• 10. After you practice and your muscles are tired, you feel happy because you know you are getting better.
  
• 9. All you want for your birthday are the new AirSwoopes shoes.
  
• 8. Your friends think the basketball is an extension of your hand since you always seem to have it around.
  
• 7. You don't mind studying since you know no college will take you if you are not a success in the classroom.
  
• 6. You give up a night to go out with friends and instead stay home to practice.
  
• 5. You eat right and try to stay healthy.
  
• 4. You practice in all kinds of weather, even in the hot summer sun or cold winter days (Mom is not too crazy about all your gloves being fingerless).
  
• 3. You love to talk about basketball.
  
• 2. Your wardrobe looks like you own stock in Reebok.
  
• 1. You love to play basketball.
  

As you look over my list, you may think that maybe you are not as committed as I am. Well, remember, that this is just my opinion. For some, "Basketball is Life". For others it is just something to do in your free time. The true beauty of basketball is that it has different meanings to different people who feel it is fun to do in your spare time. That's fine, that is what rec and intramural leagues are for. But maybe you are one of those people who dream about playing in college. You work on your moves and dream about the seasons to come. Your friends think you are crazy, because while they are dreaming about who they are going to marry, you dream of trying to be the next Rebecca Lobo. You then come back to earth and think that this probably will never happen, but you have to remember anything is possible if you put your mind to it. If you want to be the next Lobo or Swoopes and you love the game, stay committed. You never can tell where it will take you. You must be willing to work and sacrifice and if you are, you have the "love".

from Court Awareness, a newsletter devoted to women's basketball

After playing for his father in high school, where their undefeated Ambridge team has been called the best in Pennsylvania history, Dick DeVenzio, author of "Stuff: Good Players Should Know", was a three year starting point guard at Duke University, where he was an Academic All-American. Since then, Dick has played and coached professionally, has written numerous articles on college basketball, has run several basketball camps including the Point Guard Basketball College, and is the author of several other books. Read what has been said about "Stuff": There are only so many things a coach can teach a player. Instinct is not one of them. This book teaches it -- in black and white. This book is a very good book for the serious player. It doesn't concentrate on fundamentals but on the more important and advanced aspects of the game. This book will help you improve your game tremendously, especialy in the mental area. I consider this to be my basketball bible. Click the book to the right to visit Amazon.com, the internet's largest bookstore, where you can purchase "Stuff: Good Players Should Know".

Durham, N.C.--Here's the bad news for the rest of the NCAA Tournament field. There are no pictures anymore on Duke's locker room wall.

This is significant, because there used to be. Until the night before this week's Florida State game, when a thoroughly aggravated Mike Krzyzewski answered his Blue Devils' lethargic practice by stripping them of their artwork.

Down came the player photos.

Down came the snapshots of past great moments that had been there for years as examples.

Down came any reminder of Duke's recent glory.

Left alone on the bulletin board was a simple card with a stern message: "There are no shortcuts to any place worth going."

The redecoration may be worth remembering as a turning point. The next night, the Blue Devils crushed No. 6 Florida State, 98-75, in their most devastating display of basketball all season.

They have had injuries (Grant Hill's absence with a bad toe). They have left their fans aghast by losing two in a row.

But March is here, and they are starting to look ready. Again.

"This was the first time we've put 40 minutes together," Bobby Hurley said of the Florida State game, which featured 16 of his assists. "It felt like last year."

"I think a lot of us had been getting satisfied," forward Antonio Lang added. And the bare walls? "It's the idea of starting with nothing, and building something."

"Sometimes," Krzyzewski said, "you have to play hungry."

It has been no walk in the park for Duke, trying to live up to the past. Krzyzewski sometimes has been annoyed with the demands of the outside world, and how "the only way we can be successful is to be perfect. What a sad state of affairs if that takes place."

He said that weeks ago. Since then, the Blue Devils have been looking for answers. They may have found them in time to make a run at a third straight NCAA title and boldly go where no team--save UCLA--has gone before.

"I don't think we're there yet," Thomas Hill said, meaning Duke's full tournament steam. "But we're headed in that direction."

This team has had to find its own identity. One step has been to handle the burden of great expectations.

"It's tougher this year than it has been," Grant Hill said. "But I want to be on top. I want to be the team everyone is shooting at. That's what Duke has meant.

"We're 21-5," Krzyzewski said. "We've handled it pretty well. But we're handling it better now. Achievement gives you confidence. Recognition of achievement gives you added confidence. These kids have achieved, but they haven't always been recognized for that achievement."

Added Krzyzewski, "Last year's team started the season knowing everybody, having confidence in each other. This year, there was a gap between those three (Hurley and the Hills) and the rest of the team. We keep talking about closing the gap. It's closer now than it's ever been. But it takes time. It takes a tough schedule. And losing helps, too."

Closed gap or not, those three veterans of so many Final Four wars must carry the fight against a tournament field seeking revenge.

"No one else has three players who have been there like they have," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "That means a lot."

So, apparently, do bare walls.

--Mike Lopresti, Gannett News Service

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