Courtesy: Duke Photography

By Rob Clough, GoDuke.com 

DURHAM, N.C. - A year ago, Chante Black was preparing to start next to Alison Bales full-time and wreak havoc on opposing offenses.  Having spent a summer honing her jump shot, she was also looking forward to stretching defenses with her new-found range.  A preseason injury didn't seem like it would be that serious, but she injured herself more seriously upon her return.  Weeks dragged by as Chante and her coaches alike waited patiently to see if things would improve.  Chante noted that everyone "wanted to give time to the injury to see if I could rehabilitate and return to the floor."  In early January, they "came to the conclusion that it was not worth rushing back".

While this wasn't the outcome Chante had hoped for, it did at least provide closure and allowed her to adjust her approach with her teammates.  "I wasn't out there with them on the floor, so I felt as though I couldn't yell at them", she noted. "Instead, I had to instruct them to do certain things or tell them 'hey, this move isn't working because they're not giving you the middle, they're giving you the baseline.'  Sitting out helped to develop my communication skills."

It was Chante's guidance that helped Duke to an undefeated regular season, due in no small part to the surprising play of young post players Carrem Gay, Joy Cheek and Bridgette Mitchell.  If Bales had gone down or those youngsters hadn't been ready to help, "That would have been very devastating.  I really can't imagine what would have went on in this instance.  Maybe I could have stepped in...but that would have been a downfall in our program", Chante mused.

Happily, this didn't happen, and the coaches made sure to keep her plugged into the team.  Black enthuses, "I never felt isolated from my teammates, [and] they always made me feel like I was part of their success."  In particular, everyone encouraged Chante to "remain vocal on the sidelines and in practice".  That was especially true for the post players, as "they always looked to me for guidance and suggestions on what they need to do to improve themselves."  After Duke's first win over Maryland, the coaches praised her for helping to coach the young post players.

Chante worked with Cheek, Gay and Mitchell extensively last summer as she was preparing for last season, and remarked "They have grown so much over a year."
Regarding Gay, Black believes that "last season was a good thing for Carrem and the team...she had a lot of playing time and stepped into a role that has helped her to mature."  She noted that "Joy is a very hard worker and will be a post player that will not only be a threat on the inside but on the outside too."  Black asserted that "the post group is going to rely on me to set the tone on how well we do on the inside."  She eagerly offered, "I've already provided advice and I'm going to continue to do that, but now it's my turn to not only talk the talk, but show the things I've been trying to communicate to them."

All in all, sitting out last season "made me a student of the game.  I am able to understand more of what the coaches are looking for and it's helped me understand the game."  At a personal level, Black feels like she matured: "I became more educated about the game and able to evaluate different situations that will help me determine how to handle certain situations that I may come up against on the floor."

Game Time

Chante discussed her mindset in game situations.  She noted that while "the plays are pretty much embedded in your mind when you are on the floor, but I go on my instincts.  In order to be a great player, you have to know how to read the defense.  There are moves that I prefer to do, but I have a variety of moves that I do by reading the defense."

On defense, Black notes that her ferocious shot-blocking ability is partly a result of her quick reaction that she has "when someone is shooting a shot near me."  While she states that she tries to "concentrate on not fouling and keeping the ball in play", she slyly adds "but don't be surprised if you catch a ball in the stands!"

Black has proven to be a dominant rebounder early in her career.  She credits this to "going up against Ali and our other post players", which has "prepared me for the different post players that I might have to box out because they all bring something different to the table."  Expanding on that, she said, "Ali has size and height.  Carrem is long and athletic.  Joy brings strength.  So I train against them daily, which has made me a better player."  Offensively, Chante knows that the key to becoming consistently dominant is "maintaining the mental stage of being aggressive and attacking...knowing that I am a force."
To that end, Chante has been practicing her jumper once again this summer and is "going to look to take shots from the outside area more this season."

Looking Ahead

One role that Chante is looking forward to is that of leadership.  "[Being a] leader is more than just being vocal, but also is the person that displays [a] hard work ethic."  Thinking about the leaders that inspired her, she said "Lindsey and Mistie were great examples of how true leaders are supposed to be displayed.  Leaders are also supposed to be responsible people."  Expanding on that, she added "Those two in particular were people that have shared the responsibility of making Duke into an incredible program.  I definitely have learned a lot from Mistie and would love to emulate her this year and demonstrate the important things she had taught me about being a leader and hard worker."

Black's goal for the season is "consistency, meaning to maintain an attack mindset that will lead to me dominating on both ends of the floor."  Speaking about her injury, she offered "Any player that goes through an injury knows that it's a pain in the butt to get back to where they were at before the injury occurred."  As to where she stands now, she said that she's working on her conditioning and "hopefully that will be back to where I want it by the time practice starts up.  The adjustment will just be the time."  Black is optimistic about her progress, saying "I know that I will eventually get back to where I want [to be].  During this adjustment period is where I have to use my mentality:  the things that I have learned from watching the game from the sidelines will definitely benefit me."

Duke fans will be happy to hear that Black has "already decided to take my fifth year here at Duke.  I feel like I have not accomplished what I sought out to achieve on the court by coming here to Duke."  This means that she'll play a full two seasons under Coach P and her new staff.  Chante has sat down with Coach McCallie and the assistants, and enthused, "I'm very excited to start working with them.  They are an energized coaching staff that's eager to start the season and I am looking forward to working with them all."

Beyond Basketball

Discussing the roots of her success, Black emphasized the importance of her mother, "an amazing woman who has taught me everything about what it means to strive for goals.  Nothing has been handed to us so I had to grow up fast.
That's probably the reason Coach P labels me as the 'wise' person on our team.
My mental stage is always thinking things through and what are the outcomes.
My mother pushes education before anything and everything."

Black understood that she had the potential to be a great player "during 7th grade when I first starting playing AAU" basketball.  Her mother imposed strict
rules: "In order to play basketball I had to maintain honor roll or my mother would not allow me to participate."  She also understood that achieving her goals would mean sacrifice.  They revolved around "not having as much free time as my classmates had.  Instead of having weekends I was on AAU trips.
Instead of having three hours after school to chill outside with my friends, I only had one hour because I had to make sure I was on top of my school work and I had dedicated the other two hours to working out in the gym.  In the end, the sacrifices have paid off, but I'm still sacrificing time to make me better so that I can reach my goal of being a high achiever as a student and basketball player."

In discussing her studies, Black firmly offered that she was a student first, and a basketball player second.  One of her majors is biological anthropology & anatomy, a field of study that's often a precursor for students interested in medical school.  Black noted, "Yes, I do intend to eventually get involved in the medical field, although I am going to continue to pursue the pro basketball path as long as I can.

Black listed radiology as a potential future field of interest for her.  She singled out Dr. Nancy Major as "a wonderful radiology instructor here at Duke.
Her class was very informative and interesting,  especially when you are an athlete that has undergone some of the various injuries that she described and their diagnoses."  Another class that stood out for her was The Human Body with Dr. Richard Kay.  In that course, "we had an opportunity to actually look at cadavers and learn the anatomy with hands-on experience."  She wryly noted that it was "[kind of] gross but kind of cool at the same time."

Black's other major is Women's Studies.  She chose it after her first semester at Duke after taking a class with Donna Lisker, "who is the director of Duke's Women's Center".  It drew her in because "her class was really informative with gender roles.  I wanted to learn more about these issues.  Not only with being a female athlete, but just the fact that I am a woman there are a lot of issues that females go through with inequalities and judgements that have to be faced daily."

Outside of Duke's walls, Black has "participated in working in the soup kitchen for the Durham Rescue mission.  I have also done weekly tutoring at George Watts Elementary school here in Durham.  With the basketball team we have held basketball clinics that are free to the community.  I'm also apart of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC), [in] which we do a lot of community service work within this program as well."

Chante Black's maturity, resolve and perspective have enabled her to gracefully endure a difficult period as an athlete and have allowed her to grow from these obstacles.  While Duke basketball fans are looking forward to what she can do on the court in the next two seasons, Chante's character as a scholar and person will likely have an even greater impact in the years to come for her field of study and community surrounding her.