Forever's Team

November 28, 1989
The author of A Season on the Brink and A Season Inside here turns his talents to composing a basketball version of The Boys of Summer , based on the Duke team of 1977-1978, which lost the NCAA championship to Kentucky. The team was unusual in that most of the players were freshmen and sophomores, with only one senior on the squad; further, they all played the sport for the fun of it, developing a wonderful sense of camaraderie as they did so. A decade later, their coach is at Northwestern, having survived a heart attack; one of the assistant coaches is head coach at Rutgers; another has left coaching. Of the players, three are lawyers, two are in the computer business, one is a minister and one is a star in the NBA, while some of the others have had professional and medical problems. Granted the dubious premise that this almost-winning team is a reasonable subject for a book, this is a good study of boys becoming men. BOMC alternate.

April 1, 1990
YA- -Members of the Duke University basketball team of 1977-78 were recruited, entered Duke, and, after extraordinary success as a team, they parted. Many have faced personal adversity, however, and their special camaraderie lives on. This is their story, told by a former newspaper sports writer in a crisp, journalistic style. Young adult readers are sure to identify with the recruitment and decision process shared by many college-bound students. The importance of sports is put in perspective by the view of the jocks' after-college life. A wide audience will enjoy this book. -Carolyn Henebry, Harris County Public Library, Houston

January 1, 1991
The coaches and players of Duke University's 1977-78 team, who ended an otherwise successful season with their NCAA championship loss to Kentucky, are traced from their time on the squad to their present occupations. ``Granted the dubious premise that this almost-winning team is a reasonable subject for a book, this is a good study of boys becoming men,'' remarked PW.