By Rob Miech
SportsLine Staff Writer

Three weeks into his new gig, Duke assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski has already been asked on the recruiting trail if he bleeds Blue Devil blue. Do a rat commercial and watch your popularity soar.

Wojciechowski, 22, also thinks his days of hearing barks -- a staple of the Cameron Crazies when he played tight man-to-man defense on another point guard -- might have come to an end.

"I don't know if I'll hear barks anymore," Wojciechowski said Tuesday. "I'm an old dog now. I'm lucky they didn't shoot me."

Shoot a legend? Not on Tobacco Road, anyway. That's also not a consideration when the subject is one of the game's all-time competitors. And try to think of anyone else who improved as much as Wojciechowski did from his rookie season to his senior campaign.

That is what Wojciechowski, a three-time Atlantic Coast Conference all-academic honoree, adds to Krzyzewski's staff.

"I think you can be enthusiastic and passionate in anything you're doing," Wojciechowski said. "I think that's how a lot of people would characterize me as a player, and I hope I can bring the same enthusiasm and passion to the game as a coach."

That passion and enthusiasm was missing in Poland, where Wojciechowski played professionally for six months upon leaving Duke after the 1997-98 season. The cultural experience of visiting cities where his great grandparents lived was invaluable, but the basketball experience was empty.

He signed with a team in Warsaw.

"IT WAS OBVIOUSLY A VERY different culture," Wojciechowski said. "The way guys approached the game was different, too. It wasn't quite (with) the intensity or commitment that I wanted. For some people, it's great. They go there and make a good living. But that's not really why I ever played."

Wojciechowski returned to North Carolina, hooked on with a management team that handles Duke's investments and worked the team's radio broadcasts for the second half of the season. In the NCAA Tournament, he did some regional work for a national company.

When Quin Snyder left Krzyzewski's staff to take over at Missouri, the spot was created for Wojciechowski. Johnny Dawkins and David Henderson are Krzyzewski's top two assistants.

Wojciechowski said he and Krzyzewski never talked during his career of the possibility of one day becoming a Duke assistant coach.

"We never had any in-depth discussions, but I think he knew when my playing days were over that coaching would be something I'd be interested in," Wojciechowski said. "He always said he'd help me out when he could. Obviously, he did.

"IT IS SOMETHING I'VE ALWAYS BEEN interested in. I've always been fortunate to have the best coaches, from the time I was 8 years old. I've just been shaped by those guys, and I always dreamed of giving that back to some kid at some point. That's my goal, to give back what I've been given."

If that were the goal of every college student, Elton Brand and William Avery would still be at Duke, Chris Burgess wouldn't have bolted for greener pastures and Corey Maggette wouldn't still be pondering turning pro.

Times have changed, though, even in Durham. And Brand and Avery were the first undergraduates of Krzyzewski's to leave Duke early for the NBA Draft.

"Obviously, it's a transition for me, personally," Wojciechowski said. "It's also a transition for the program, with Elton and William going to the pros. It's an area we've finally had to deal with, and it's a great learning experience for us. We're happy for the kids, but we've never dealt with it before. We're learning as best we can."

Krzyzewski isn't sweating, because he knows how well Wojciechowski has handled transitions in the past.

A barren backcourt?

Baron Davis is bearin' down for the NBA.

For awhile, it's been considered a no-brainer that Davis, UCLA's sophomore point guard, will leave school for this summer's NBA Draft. A source very close to the program confirmed that news last week, and Davis will wait right up to the deadline (May 16) to declare his intention.

Contrary to some reports, Davis has spent scant time around school lately and has had no intention of seeking the counsel of anyone even remotely close to UCLA coach Steve Lavin's staff.

"He's got the appetite of a professional player, but the emotions of a college kid," said one insider who requested anonymity. "It's all about the money. It's a lost cause (that Davis will return for his junior season)."

Davis fared very well in the last third of the season, and he has been tabbed as a top-six pick in the draft. The local and leadership-needy Clippers will probably select second in the draft, and some think Davis would relish turning that franchise around.

Moreover, that rudderless franchise moves into the spiffy new Staples Center next season.

To bank a lot of money AND stay home, where his grandmother, sister and friends can watch him regularly is said to be a gratifying combination to Davis.

THAT WILL BE A MAJOR BLOW to the Bruins, who will turn the point over to Earl Watson. His strengths are pressure defense and yanking down unlikely rebounds, not running a team.

With that burden, folks in the first eight rows all around Pauley Pavilion better be ready to snag errant passes.

Lavin is counting on getting Fresno (Calif.) point man DeShawn Stevenson next season.

Another lane

Alonzo Lane and his mother did not make a big issue of alleged threatening phone calls that contributed to the Canton (Miss.) swingman choosing Arkansas over Mississippi last week.

Lane said he was simply most comfortable on his visit to the Arkansas campus, but his news conference was void of any more details about why he chose the Hogs or the nature of the calls disparaging Ole Miss.

Some close to the Razorbacks program doubt die-hard fans of the program would stoop to such a level, and no evidence has been unearthed to prove where the calls originated from or who might have been behind the plot.

It should be interesting when Arkansas plays at Oxford, Miss., next season. Authorities should not take that game as lightly as Lane and his mother took their recent personal experiences last week.

One mo time

About the time we highlighted how Lorenzo Romar moved from Pepperdine to Saint Louis last week, the Billikens and Missouri Tigers were working to renew their dormant series.

The battle for Missouri will be renewed next season. The teams last played in 1981, when Missouri won by 18 points at home. A year earlier, Missouri won by two in overtime in St. Louis. Those were the only two games played by the Show Me State rivals over the past 28 years.

The Tigers hold a 19-18 edge in a series that was mostly played in the 1930s and '40s, when the two teams played twice in a season seven times, and the 1960s.

Also, to clarify some inquiries, current Saint Louis athletic director Doug Wollard was the associate athletic director at Washington State when he spoke with Romar, then a UCLA assistant, about the WSU vacancy in 1994.

WSU athletic director Rick Dickson hired Kevin Eastman, a former Tulsa colleague, as the Cougars' coach.

Blanchard in no rush

Ann Arbor (Mich.) Pioneer small forward LaVell Blanchard will pick Mother's Day to announce where he will play basketball in the fall, and the exodus from Duke is affecting his decision.

California, Michigan, Virginia, Penn State and Georgetown are in the mix, and Blanchard has officially visited all but his hometown Wolverines. Of course, he's been able to make countless unofficial trips to the UM campus.

The Blue Devils are making a late run at him, too. We still think it will come down to the Golden Bears, whose coach (Ben Braun) has tight ties to Michigan, and the Wolverines, where reports of coach Brian Ellerbe's demise six weeks ago were obviously exaggerated.

If Ellerbe lands Blanchard, the only question about Michigan will be the number of Big Ten titles it will claim in his tenure.

Also, Kansas City (Mo.) Pembroke Hill's Kareem Rush has committed to attend Missouri. The spring signing period ends May 15.