Those who read my account of the 2001-2002 season know just how much
Coach Gail Goestenkors and her players accomplished in the face of
adversity. Those who have followed Duke women's basketball for any
length of time understand just how far it's come under the guidance of
Coach G.
In any successful endeavor, it is the synergy of all its
participants that lead to its bearing fruit. The brilliance of young
Coach G was enabled by the full support of then-AD Tom Butters (and his
successor, Joe Alleva), who chose to allocate the resources the program
had long needed and in so doing made a commitment for its future. In
turn, the community slowly but surely started to get behind a program that
made an extra effort to reach out to it. The players who came to Duke
operated on faith that their coach could build a program, and founded a
winning tradition in the process that continues to bring in some of the
country's best players.
The time has come to consolidate the gains the program has attained and
make plans for future success. To that end, two donors contributed $100,000
each when Coach G won her 200th game to establish the Gail Goestenkors
Women's Basketball Scholarship. This jump-started a fund whose eventual
goal is $750,000, the cost of a full scholarship endowment. The
scholarship is designed for true scholar-athletes and so will be awarded
to the Duke senior or captain with the highest grade point average on the
team. The scholarship represents the next step Duke is taking to ensure
that the program continues to flourish under the leadership of Coach G.
Full details as to how and where one can contribute to the fund will be
released within the next month or so, so watch this space. However, if
you have any questions at this time about the scholarship fund, please
call Don Fowler, Director of Major Gifts at (919)613-7476 or email him at
don.fowler@duke.edu.