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Josh Levine Senior Profile
3/4/2016 8:04:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Durham, N.C. – GoDuke.com recently sat down with Syosset, N.Y., native and senior men's tennis player Josh Levine to reflect on his four years at Duke.
GoDuke.com: What is a place that you would consider a hidden gem, on campus or in Durham?
JL: I want to say the tennis center because not many people know about and it's awesome. Besides that, the K Center is a little bit of a stretch because it is not open to all the students. But it's the people that are there and the help they offer [that make it special]. The K center is an environment where there are all these athletes studying. You find your family there in a sense, because everyone is on the same schedule as you pretty much. So that has kind of been a place where I have found comfort. In any academic situation, [Assistant Director/Academic Support Services] Jeremiah Walker has always been there to help me and the team. I think I definitely utilized it a little more my freshman and sophomore years, but I think that is the hidden gem.
GoDuke.com: What is your proudest academic moment at Duke?
JL: My proudest academic moment was probably after my sophomore spring semester, when I had my highest GPA that at Duke. It was a semester where I really concentrated on my studies and it was just a good feeling knowing that my hard work paid off. I had never really emphasized studies as much as I did that semester. To see my hard work get rewarded was definitely the highlight. Along with that, there have been some group projects here and there that I have enjoyed working with the team members and other students here at Duke, but I would say getting that GPA at the end of the sophomore spring semester.
GoDuke.com: What is your favorite road trip that you have been on?
JL: I would have to say Illinois and Northwestern last year. A little selfish on my part, but they were my favorite matches by far. I mean, not only did I clinch the match at Illinois, but as a team, it was the first time we had beat Illinois at their place since 2001, when [current Duke head coach] Ramsey Smith was on the team. So I think for him, for the coaching staff, and the players, it was a really cool experience going into Illinois with their fans just heckling you left and right. That place, you couldn't even hear. I couldn't even hear what [current Duke volunteer coach] Jason Tahir was saying to me when he was calling signals up at the net. It was a cool environment. After the win at Illinois we came together. We were all enjoying each other's presence at dinner. It was one of my favorite dinners and everyone was fired up so I would say that was probably my favorite road trip.
GoDuke.com: What is your favorite NCAA tournament memory?
JL: I want to say, our win against Kentucky my freshman year, even though I didn't play. Ramsey wasn't there, unfortunately, but we were very shorthanded. [Ramsey's wife] Kathy was in the hospital about to give birth to [their first child] Sophie, so we were a little shorthanded. [Duke volunteer assistant coach] Jonathan Stokke stepped up as the head coach and it was just a bunch of adversity we had to face. We were facing a No. 8 seed and we were a No. 9 seed against Kentucky, which was a very strong team. It was cool how the team just came together and really just pushed each other to get the win. We finished at like 1:30 in the morning and everybody was just so fired up after and it was just an awesome, awesome experience.
GoDuke.com: What is one lesson that Duke Tennis has taught you that you know you are going to carry wherever you go in life?
JL: Just that whenever you are on a team, you are representing more than yourself. You are representing the guys around you. For Duke tennis, you are representing Duke as a whole and the university. When you go out into the real world, you are representing your company and the people who hired you. It's not just about you. It is about the people around you and I think that is important.
GoDuke.com: What does it mean to you to wear the Iron D on your chest?
JL: It means that you are playing for something bigger than yourself. You look down and you're not just looking at an Adidas sign or a Nike sign. It's not like that when you play juniors. Here, you are representing the school, the athletic administration, the people who helped get you into the school and the coaching staff. You are playing for something bigger than yourself. It is not just you on the court. You are playing for the guy next to you and everyone who represents Duke, all the athletes who play for Duke. You kind of bond together over the fact that you are representing the school and I think it is really awesome to play for Duke University.
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