As a ninth grader at Willowridge High School in Houston, Daniel Ewing pulled aside his coach, Ronnie Courtney.
Ewing told Courtney he wanted to play basketball at Duke one day and asked what he needed to do to get there. As Courtney recalled it, the following exchange occurred:
"You have to make straight A's," Courtney said.
"No problem, coach," Ewing responded.
"You have to get a good SAT or ACT score," Courtney said.
"No problem, coach," Ewing assured him.
"You have to become a high school all-American," Courtney said.
"No problem, coach," Ewing answered once again.
The mentality of doing whatever has been asked of him arrived early in Ewing's career. But despite his emerging as a high school all-American and a prominent player at Duke, Ewing has always been more of a sidekick than a star.
At Willowridge, Ewing played alongside T.J. Ford, the dazzling point guard who became an all-American at Texas and the eighth pick in the 2003 NBA draft. At Duke, Ewing has played in the backcourt with Jay Williams, Chris Duhon and now J.J. Redick.
He has been asked to shut down the opponent's top guard or wing. And he has evolved from a standstill shooter to a slashing scorer to his current role as point guard and team leader. And he has had one straight answer to the variety of roles he has been asked to play at Duke: "No problem, coach."
"Ultimately, he's been a winner," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "If you have Daniel on your team, you win more."
Ewing has gone 115-22 over his four years at Duke and leads the No. 1 Blue Devils into a Round of 16 game with No. 5 Michigan State on Friday night.
Win or lose, Ewing will leave college as the most prolific winner in Division I over that four-year span. Kansas guards Aaron Miles and Keith Langford, each with 109 victories, have already been eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
Ewing's capacity to win and his ability to adapt to a role began at Willowridge, where he played for a team that went 75-1 over his junior and senior seasons and won two state titles.
Along with Ford, Ewing's teammates included Ivan McFarlin, the Oklahoma State forward, and Kenny Taylor, the Texas shooting guard.
"It was just crazy how many people we had," Taylor said. "Some people believed we could have competed with some college teams."
Ewing quickly learned how to accept a role. Ford, who was considered one of the top point guards in the country, provided the sizzle. He served as the team's primary ball handler and playmaker.
Ewing provided scoring and slashing. Taylor served as the team's standstill shooter, and McFarlin grabbed rebounds and filled the lane on Willowridge's fast break.
"I've always had to share the spotlight with other people," Ewing said. "It really hasn't bothered me. Being that I had to do that in high school, it really helped me playing with a lot of great players."
When Ewing began playing for Duke, he was the only freshman on a team with older players like Williams and Mike Dunleavy, both of whom became first-round NBA draft picks, and Carlos Boozer, who became a second-round pick.
To get on the floor that season, Ewing embraced Duke's tough man-to-man defensive mentality and developed a knack for hitting key shots.
In Ewing's sophomore season, his playing time increased and Krzyzewski relied on him more as a scorer and wing player. After Duhon graduated last year, Ewing slid into the point guard role for his senior season. All the while, he has guarded the opposition's key perimeter players, among then North Carolina State's Julius Hodge, North Carolina's Raymond Felton and Wake Forest's Justin Gray.
Ewing has not received much recognition for doing the dirty work, but he has earned Krzyzewski's respect.
"If you're in a film that wins an Academy Award, you get a lot of exposure," Krzyzewski said. "He's been in films that have won Academy Awards in high school and in college."
The biggest adjustment for Ewing at Duke has been ditching his laid-back nature to become an assertive leader.
As a junior, Ewing called Courtney, his high school coach, and told him he was worried about the need to be more vocal.
Since then, however, Ewing has thrived, at times calling his teammates together for on-court huddles. At points this season, he has stepped way out of character. He was called for a technical foul at Georgia Tech; his fellow senior Reggie Love credits it for firing up the Blue Devils in a victory at Atlanta. Ewing was called for pulling on his jersey after a dunk, one of four technical fouls he has received in the past 12 games.
At North Carolina State this season, Hodge hit Ewing in the face with the ball during a dead-ball situation. Ewing got up and challenged Hodge.
"He got very angry, and for the rest of the game he played lights out," the Duke assistant Chris Collins said. "It showed him that he can be a very good player and emotional."
And it also showed Ewing's versatility throughout his career, as he has performed every task with a nod and the same answer: "No problem, coach."
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