DURHAM, N.C. -- Some thought Steve Wojciechowski was in over his head when he left Cardinal Gibbons for Duke five years ago. He was considered to be too slow, almost too blue-collar for the blue-chip world of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Wojciechowski wound up silencing most, if not all, of his critics. After a rocky freshman year in which Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was sidelined with a serious back injury and the Blue Devils fell to last in the ACC, Wojciechowski helped lead their return to national prominence.
"He was one of the best leaders we've ever had," Krzyzewski said when Wojciechowski's career ended with a heartbreaking loss to Kentucky in the 1998 NCAA tournament. "I know whatever he does in his life, Steve is going to be successful."
If the prediction turns out to be true, Krzyzewski will be the immediate benefactor. When associate head coach Quin Snyder left in April to become the head coach at Missouri, Krzyzewski hired Wojciechowski to fill what had been Snyder's pivotal role:
Duke's recruiting coordinator.
With the recruiting period having reopened this week, Wojciechowski finds himself in a different kind of spotlight but with the same kind of intense pressure he often faced as a player.
Wojciechowski will go from point guard in Krzyzewski's lineup to point man in Duke's recruiting plan.
A test from the start
"The pressure is what you make of it," Wojciechowski said one day last month, sitting in his office at Cameron Indoor Stadium. "If we had all the guys coming back, with the guys we have coming in, I don't know how much there would have been for me to do right now."
Instead, there is plenty to occupy Wojciechowski and fellow assistants Johnny Dawkins and David Henderson, themselves former Duke stars. Three underclassmen, sophomores Elton Brand and William Avery and freshman Corey Maggette, were No. 1 picks in last month's NBA draft. The Blue Devils also lost fifth-year senior Trajan Langdon, another first-round pick, off a team that was upset by Connecticut in the NCAA championship game.
It means that Wojciechowski has begun living out of a suitcase, going to both of the premier all-star camps last week, the Nike-sponsored All-American camp in Indianapolis and the Adidas-sponsored ABCD camp in Teaneck, N.J. Wojciechowski will be in Augusta, Ga., today and in Las Vegas later this week for other camps and tournaments.
Recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons joked a couple of months ago that, considering Duke's history and Krzyzewski's reputation, all Wojciechowski would need is "a good travel agent" to succeed. But the equation has changed, and Wojciechowski finds himself being scrutinized again.
"Even though they had this tremendous recruiting class coming in, their losses far exceeded their gains," Gibbons said from his Lenoir, N.C., office this week. "This next class will be crucial to their continued success.
"For a new guy, it's going to be tough. But Wojo is such a competitor. I think a lot of people will be looking at the job he does. It's pretty daunting."
Wojciechowski is aware of the whispers in the coaching fraternity when he was hired: that he is too young to be in such a position, and not as polished as Snyder was when he returned to Duke after a short career working for his former father-in-law, Larry Brown, in the NBA.
It is similar to what he heard as a player trying to fill the shoes of Bobby Hurley, who had graduated two seasons before.
"To be honest, I don't care either way," said Wojciechowski. "I want to do this as well as possible because of my love for the school and the program and Coach K."
Making the transition
If anything, Wojciechowski is going to have to tone down his enthusiasm. No slapping the floor in front of the Duke bench, as he and other Blue Devils point guards have done at midcourt to ratchet up the defense. No chest-bumping coming off the floor. And no waving towels to incite the crowd.
He's Coach Wojo now. Assistant coach Wojo, to be accurate.
"It's going to be an adjustment," he said. "When you realize that, you can channel your energy in other ways to be productive and find ways to help the team."
Wojciechowski has had more than a year to make the transition.
He spent three months in Poland playing professional basketball before the lack of communication with his teammates -- both the local talent and former NBA player Richard Dumas -- brought on severe homesickness.
"They were nice guys," Wojciechowski said of his teammates. "They spoke better English than I spoke Polish. It was a different experience. It makes you realize how much better you have it here."
Returning in late November, Wojciechowski got a job with the Duke Management Co., helping to secure money for the school to invest. He also became radio analyst on the Duke basketball network, as well as color commentator on ESPN's regional telecasts.
During the NCAA tournament, Wojciechowski found himself in the spotlight again. He played a familiar character -- Wojo, replete with his old Duke uniform -- in a CBS television commercial promoting its coverage of the tournament.
"I flew out to Los Angeles for a day in February," said Wojciechowski. "They did it in eight to 10 hours of shooting. It was neat to be on a Hollywood sound stage with a real director. It's amazing to me that it happened."
It only added to the visibility he had gained during his last two years at Duke, when his name was screeched countless times by Dick Vitale ("That's Mr. Wojciechowski, baaay-bbbbeeee!") and his face adorned a Sports Illustrated cover, which hangs framed on his office wall.
That kind of immediate face and name recognition works wonders in the recruiting world, but Krzyzewski said work ethic is more crucial. It's why Krzyzewski calls hiring a 22-year-old without any prior coaching experience "an easy decision."
Said Krzyzewski: "To have a youthful guy was what we needed in the mix. His maturity level is very high. He's a very smart kid. We used to test for leadership, and he tested as high as any player we ever had. When he played for me, I would marvel at what he would say to the other guys."
It's not much different as Wojciechowski speaks to youngsters at a Duke basketball camp one afternoon last month. He's giving a clinic on ball-handling and is as prepared as if he were about to face the Tar Heels or Terrapins.
The campers are not the only ones who seem transfixed on what Wojciechowski is saying. The counselors are also paying attention.
"He's a very good teacher," said Brian Bellamy, an assistant coach at Belhaven College, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics school in Jackson, Miss.
That also will be Wojciechow- ski's role as an assistant coach this season. He will certainly be vital in the development of Jason Williams, who could start at point guard as a freshman.
Wojciechowski credits the coaches he's had throughout his life with preparing him well. From Ed Wilson and Walter Benewisz back in Severna Park through Mike Dahlem and the late Ray Mullis at Cardinal Gibbons to, of course, Krzyzewski.
"They were always compassionate, competitive and enthusiastic," said Wojciechowski. "They wanted to teach."
Now, it's Coach Wojo's turn.
Pub Date: 7/13/99