Friday, April 17, 2009

$10 million gift to Duke football

Former Duke All-America halfback Bob Pascal and a friend and fellow alumnus, Steve Brooks, have donated a combined $10 million to the football program. The money will be used to upgrade the visiting locker room, add practice fields and build a fieldhouse with a full-length practice field.

"We believe this is the perfect time to invest further in Duke football," Brooks said in a prepared statement. "We have the right coach in David Cutcliffe, the right athletic director in Kevin White, great student-athletes and strong support from the school's administration and Board of Trustees."

Pascal, an All-American in 1955 and two-time all-ACC player, helped lead the Blue Devils to three straight ACC championships and an Orange Bowl victory over Nebraska on Jan. 1, 1955. A developer and the owner of a resort, Pascal recently retired from the Board of Directors of Intergy, a propane marketing and distribution company.

Books, a 1966 Duke graduate and Vietnam veteran, is president and chief executive officer of the Phoenix American Insurance Group. His son, Matt, was a kicker on Duke's football team from 2001-04.

-- Roger van der Horst

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

dookfootball [giggle]

Anonymous said...

Those who laugh first, laugh last. What did YOUR football program get lately?

Anonymous said...

It's nice to see someone finally investing in improving the football facilities at Duke. If improvements can be made to the stadium now, that would be wonderful. It is my hope that David Cutcliff will stay at Duke for a long time and turn Duke into a football contender and regular Bowl bound team.

Anonymous said...

Keep laughing, haters. Duke has one of the top 2 quarterbacks in the ACC next year returning, as well as their leading rusher from '06/'07, who's healthy again. Look for around 5-6 wins out of this group.