Rob Clough's countdown of the top 10 players in Duke Women's Basketball history continues with his selection for #4, Georgia Schweitzer. Schweitzer wore #23 for the Blue Devils, a number that, in our opinion, deserves to be permanently retired in her honor.

Georgia Schweitzer (photo courtesy Duke SID)

The way Georgia attacked basketball as a series of solvable problems is what made her so great. Georgia's only real physical advantage was her size (6-0); as a perimeter player, this gave her an edge. She wasn't that quick or fast, but had tremendous body control and a toughness that was supernatural. She came back quickly after an appendectomy her frosh year and played on a broken foot her sophomore year. Her toughness was mental as well, calmly blasting away from three to knock off three-time defending champ Tennessee in 1999. Georgia was a great leader, taking a team that lost six seniors from that '99 squad as well as senior leader Peppi Browne to its first ACC tournament title and a Sweet Sixteen performance. As a senior, Georgia subsumed her offense in order to let Alana Beard do her thing, moving over to play point guard (which was not nearly her natural position). Of course, when the going got rough, she took over an ACC tournament game that Duke was on track to lose, sending it into overtime and winning it there.

Schweitzer was one of the purest extensions of the coach on the floor that I've ever seen at Duke. She matched Gail Goestenkors' intensity and will to win and did whatever was asked of her without complaint. Georgia simply wanted to play, and though she had a steep learning curve when she arrived at Duke, she wound up being a valuable reserve as a frosh. On a '99 team that dealt with injuries much of the season, Georgia filled in at three positions. It started to become obvious that the team was simply better when she was on the floor. While she rarely did anything spectacular on the floor, she did a little of everything. She held the school's three pointers made record for eight years and sank an impressive 40% of her treys. She's still in the top ten for points, assists and threes. Perhaps most importantly, she was the steward of the program as it made a transition from the '99 team and its six seniors to the Beard era. Her iron will carried a 2000 team that lost its senior leader on to the ACC tournament title and the Sweet Sixteen. She was instrumental in guiding Duke to its second ACC title the next year. The level of respect she commanded led to back-to-back ACC player of the year honors and a Kodak All-America nod. Her combination of toughness, hustle and fearlessness made her an ideal leader, and she's clearly a player who deserves the ultimate career honor of having her jersey retired. To read more about our case for that, click on the Schweitzer jersey banner below.

Our top ten will continue next week with Rob's pick for the third greatest player in Duke Women's Basketball history...