Visiting Duke Univ during trip to Cary, NC

WCP- You'll most likely get several responses, as the Triangle area is fairly well-frequented by our members here. I'd suggest sending a Dialog over to Rob Kremer for some more specific information about the campus, if he doesn't see this and respond here. Enjoy the trip, it's a lovely area of the country.

UNC and Duke are both really beautiful.  If your son has ANY interest in either I'd urge you to take a tour. You learn SO much more during a tour at any school than you do driving or walking around. And the student establishes interest at the school, which can be very important for admissions, especially for highly selective schools like those.

My son played also played in the USA ntis baseball at Cary and we did go to both schools and just walked around.  N.Carolina was scrimmaging and we just walked right in and watched some of the scrimmage.  We also walked around Duke and on to the field but nothing was going on.  There was a girls soccer tournament going on and we tried but couldnt get in the basketball areana because they were doing a photo shoot inside on that day.  You will probably be able to get in and see it.

I was there just about 10 days ago.  

Of the 41 different college campuses I visited on our College Bus Tours Duke was by far the school I saw with the most tourists walking around.  So I'd say find any park lot, get out and start poking around.  Head toward the Chapel and you'll find yourself on the main part of the undergraduate campus.  

I can't speak for random tourists, but Coach Pollard and his staff got us into Cameron Indoor.  I'm not really a hoops fan but it was incredible to see the museum they have with all of the rings, trophies, jerseys, etc.  And getting on the floor of the stadium was a huge highlight!

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

My son went to the 14U NTIS.  We called the baseball office at UNC and asked about visiting the facility.  The coach gave us his cell and said "call when you get here".  There were a lot of the 16/17U kids roaming around the field (it was locked).  You should have seen the look on their faces when the coach came from inside and opened the gate to let my son (5'2 and 100 lbs) into the stadium.  They showed us the locker room, players lounge and took him out thru the dugout onto the field.  My son had a blast.  Can't hurt...give them a call and see if you can get in.  If you're coming all the way from the West Coast, I'm thinking they'll help you out. 

If you don't want to do that....you certainly can just find a visitor parking spot and walk around....you may get into some of the facilities...maybe not.  We found that most of the time even if you find a security guy, he'll be happy to show you around...or at least let you take a peak inside the building for a few minutes

We went up to Duke for a visit this time last year and it was beautiful. You can just go park and stroll the campus, Enjoy !!

I live in Cary now and its a great area.

Be sure to visit Duke, UNC and NC State. All great programs and really good-to-great schools.  All 3 are easy to just park and walk around.

Just this past weekend we met some players/parents from NorCal at a Durham Bulls game who were here for an NTIS event and they had visited Duke earlier in the day including talking with coaches.  Their sons were sophomores/juniors in HS

Make sure to follow the roads with trees on both sides - they will take you...somewhere?!  (You'll get that once you're here). 

Duke is a pretty campus and worth the visit. The quality of the school and the education speak for themselves.  If you decide to get interested in their baseball program, shoot me a PM.

Duke has two separate campuses:  The West Campus houses Cameron Stadium, the Chapel, the Gardens, and the most beautiful Quads you may ever see.  The book store at Bryant is well worth the visit . A few miles away, is the East Campus - Freshmen only.  Unlike other campuses that house Freshmen offsite and then send them elsewhere for classes, East Campus is a fully developed campus.  It has its own Quad, dining hall, athletic facility (for n-a-r-p-s) and most of the great restaurants in Durham are walking distance from East.  Be sure you visit both locations.  Unlike many D1 programs, Freshmen athletes have regular room-mates - not teammates.  It's an amazing privilege to attend school there...Even more so to be an athlete there.

The Duke campus is pretty easy to visit. There is a parking structure at the Bryan Center (which houses the bookstore and is at the center of the campus.) From there it's an easy walk to anywhere on west campus - all the athletic facilities, the chapel, etc. 

Duke is worth a visit if you are in the area, and there's a good chance you can catch the baseball team in a fall scrimmage at that time. 

We got back yesterday from the 17U NTIS event. Good advice here so far, and let me share one more perspective.  Every kid in the country has heard of Duke (and Chapel Hill, Wake Forest) and I'd expect they get a lot of calls when kids are in town, and they are well worth a visit.  But you might want to research and visit some of the other schools in the area too. There are far more schools in a more dense proximity than the west coast, and way more D1's as well (if that is a goal).  Some schools within a couple hours of Cary are:  UNC Charlotte, Davidson, Elon, Campbell, East Carolina, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, NC State.  We visited several, some with coaches and some just walking or driving through the campus.  I was struck by how beautiful the campuses were.  Even the small schools feel very substantial and well, 'collegiate' (being from the West Coast, you may know what I mean by that). PM me if you have any specific questions, it's fresh on my mind as we did visits on Sunday and Monday this week.  Good luck!

So this video from the Durham Bulls just popped up on my Facebook feed.   Definitely another spot to see in the area, but I dunno about this:

There are approximately 17 Division I baseball programs in North Carolina.

Of those 17 we toured 13 on the NC College Bus Tour plus several D2's & D3's.

Duke was obviously a highlight.  However, it takes a special kid that can get in, afford & actually play for Duke.  

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

THANK YOU for all of the information and feedback; it is greatly appreciated. As luck would have it, my son's NTIS coach has arranged a visit to Duke - needless to say, WCP junior is very excited and I feel it will be a privilege for these 13-year olds. We may take our free day to visit NC State or one of the other colleges within driving distance from Raleigh/Durham. Also plan to take in the UNC vs San Diego State football game on Sat.

WCP junior has never ventured this far from California (Nevada/Arizona only) so needless to say, this is going to be quite a trip. Thanks again.

WCP   

WestCoastPapa,

If your schedule permits, you might call Joan in the UNC baseball office and see if a scrimmage is scheduled for just prior to or after the football game. That's often the case, and it would give your son and his friends an opportunity to see what a Fall Baseball scrimmage looks like. The baseball stadium is virtually across the street from the football stadium.

Have a great time!