David Cutcliffe Clarifies His Election Day Comments

Earlier called NCAA mandated day off "showy"

Duke coach David Cutcliffe spoke out against the NCAA ruling giving college players election day off, saying it was “showy” and didn’t achieve the intended purpose.

In his weekly press conference, held on election day, he clarified his comments.

“I think it’s obviously a significant election,” he said. “I don’t get to watch the news, but I hear people talking about it. My perspective on it is we have lot of young people that have voted for the first time, that are paying attention to all of the issues that are associated with 2020. I think it’s a good thing we’re not practicing. Even though they all voted, they’re all emotional. They’re all on edge. I heard it called election day stress. We tried to help them manage and handle that. They’re maturing with that as well, not just football. I’m glad they care. We’re trying to help—we’ve got 18, 19, 20 year-olds. Trying to help them manage day-to-day right now is a big part of our job.”

Still, there were issues with the NCAA decision.

“Let me give you why I talked about showy,” he said. “If we had indeed taken our team to volunteer somewhere or help in some way in any organized manner, this would not have been able to be a day off. We wouldn’t have been able to practice Sunday or Monday. I think the intention was first, to get them to vote. When I called and asked, they said, ‘Well this allows them to be involved.’ Then they said, ‘If you take them or it’s organized, it won’t be your day off.’ Okay. Thank you. I know the players are keeping up. They’re involved. They’re talking about it. I’m sure a lot of them—this campus is involved—that are involved with friends and other people, doing things this election day.”