By now, most Duke fans know that freshman point guard Vanessa deJesus is a Filipina. What you may not realize though is that in the Philippines, basketball is hugely popular. In fact, the game may be more popular there than it is here. It’s entirely possible that the country has the most passionate fans in the world.
We’re not jdking either. The game is huge and the fans are obsessive, in a good way.
So what are we getting at here?
Well, this: just as Yao Ming brought Chinese fans to the NBA, de Jesus is bringing fans from the Philippines to Duke basketball.