NOTES

Now here is a real commitment to excellence in the classroom:

The reason Duke University has yet to suspend a banner from the rafters of its home arena, Cameron Indoor Stadium, honoring the Blue Devils’ 1990 Final Four team, is that one of the players hasn’t earned his degree.

In reference to Phil Henderson, a starting guard on that squad, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said: “For us to hang a banner when one of our guys didn’t graduate, it would be a disgrace.”

An overeager fan accidentally gave Laettner a two-inch scratch below his left eye.

Kristin Hannemann, a senior at a Twin Cities high school, told Curt Brown of the Star Tribune of Minneapolis: “He’s gorgeous. I wasn’t the one who scratched him, but I wish I was.”