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Duke Announcer Gets in on Sideline Action

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Mar 14, 2008

Charlotte, N.C. — As radio analyst for Duke University basketball games, Matthew Laurance has access like few others in his business.

"When I got here, (Coach Mike Krzyzewski) said, 'I want you to do radio for us, and we're going to do something different that nobody else does. I want you to be behind the bench and listen in on the huddles and give the listeners a little bit of a different perspective,'" Laurance said.

"If you're a basketball fan, there's nothing like that in the world."

Laurance worked in Hollywood as an actor for 20 years, appearing in films like "St. Elmo's Fire," before snagging the Duke job nine years ago. He met Krzyzewski at a charity golf tournament, and the coach brought him to the East Coast.

"I was telling Coach K that I was sick of living in L.A. and that I wanted to leave but I didn't know where to go," he said. "We had a couple of conversations, and he eventually said, 'Well, why don't you come here, and I'll find something for you to do.'"

Laurance now works with charity groups as director of community relations at Washington Duke Inn, in addition to his announcing job.

When he provides glimpses into the Blue Devils' huddle, he said he has to turn on an internal filter.

"A lot of the stuff that I hear during a game in the timeouts I can't really talk about over the air. I think, at the beginning, I had trouble with that. I really had to think about what I was going to say before they came to me," he said.

"I'm very grateful for the trust that (Krzyzewski) put in me to be back there. I've slipped up a couple of times in the nine years that I've been there, but I'm still there," he said with a laugh.

• Reporter: Debra Morgan
• Photographer: Jamie Munden
• Web Editor: Matthew Burns