It’s a different era now in college sports, but even so, we’re really sorry to see Vanessa de Jesus announce that she is leaving Duke Basketball.
That’s partly because she has been here so long – she’s been at Duke for five seasons, counting the year she sat out with a knee injury – and she’s clearly one of coach Kara Lawson’s favorites. Check out the high praise she has for one of her first Duke recruits:
“She’s such a special player, and I will always remember that … When you’re a new coach, you gotta have some kids that believe in you before anybody else. I could coach another 20 years and never coach a kid like de Jesus, her team-first approach, her work ethic, her mentality and how she really gives to everybody in the program.”
That’s high praise. She’s going to be missed.
