Duke’s newest Hall of Fame class includes Carlos Boozer, Alana Beard, Gail Goestenkors
Duke’s newest class for its athletics Hall of Fame is heavy on standouts who brought the Blue Devils success in the first decade of this century.
Basketball star Carlos Boozer from the 2001 NCAA national championship team, three-time ACC women’s basketball player of the year Alana Beard and three-time women’s golf national player of the year Amanda Blumenhurst are among the eight people inducted, the school announced Friday.
Enshrinement is scheduled for Dec. 9
The class also includes former women’s basketball coach Gail Goestenkors, who led the Blue Devils to four Final Fours between 1999-2006, as well as Anthony Dilweg (football), Ali Curtis (men’s soccer), Kevin Cassese (men’s lacrosse) and longtime women’s sports administrator Jacki Silar.
Boozer played forward at Duke from 1999-2002, winning ACC tournament MVP in his final season before turning pro and being selected No. 2 overall by Cleveland in the 2002 NBA Draft. Boozer played for the Cavaliers, Utah, Chicago and the Los Angeles Lakers before his NBA career ended in 2015.
Beard remains the all-time leading scorer in Duke women’s basketball history (2,687 points). The 2004 national player of the year played professionally, both in the WNBA and overseas, until 2019. She was a four-time WNBA all-star.
Goestenkors remains the most successful women’s basketball coach in Duke history, having won ACC coach of the year six times. She amassed a 396-99 record between 1992-2007 before leaving to become head coach at Texas. Duke won five ACC tournament championships under Goestenkors, who was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Blumenhurst won three ACC individual championships during her storied career between 2005-09. She twice won the Honda Award as the nation’s top female golfer and the golf coaches’ association named her its national player of the year three times. She played professionally on the LPGA tour from 2009-2013 before leaving the tour to start a family with her husband, former Duke baseball and Major League player Nate Freiman.
Dilweg starred at quarterback for the Blue Devils during Steve Spurrier’s tenure as Duke’s head coach. The 1988 ACC player of the year, he still hold’s Duke’s single-season passing record with 3,824 yards.
Curtis put together a standout soccer career at Duke from 1997-2000, winning national player of the year awards following the 1999 and 2000 seasons. He remains Duke’s all-time leading scorer. Following his MLS career, Curis embarked on an administrative career, becoming the league’s first Black general manager when the New York Red Bulls hired him in 2014.
Cassese won the ACC player of the year award in 2001. He led Duke lacrosse to three NCAA tournament appearances and two ACC championships and was twice named a first-team all-American. He is currently head coach at Lehigh.
Starting as a Duke athletics employee in 1979, Silar was Duke’s senior women’s athletics administrator upon the job’s creation in 1995 until her 2020 retirement. The Blue Devils won eight NCAA women’s sports championships during her tenure. She also coached Duke’s field hockey team from 1981-95, twice being named ACC coach of the year.
This story was originally published July 15, 2022 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Duke’s newest Hall of Fame class includes Carlos Boozer, Alana Beard, Gail Goestenkors."