Two couples shoot for love at Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. Ray Knight and Nancy Lopez. Todd Zeile and Julie McNamara.

Despite what some traditionalists say, high-profile athletes and romance often co-exist.

Just ask the aforementioned couples, along with Purdue basketball players Michelle Duhart, Mike Robinson, Danielle Bird and Brian Cardinal.

-- Duhart and Robinson are scheduled to be married Aug. 19 in Virginia.

-- Bird and Cardinal have been an item for three years.

The crowd-pleasing Cardinal has earned a permanent place in the hearts of most Purdue fans, but his heart belongs to Bird.

"One of the greatest things that has happened to me is meeting Danielle and everything she has brought into my life," he said. "She has brought out things in me that I didn't know I had. She is a wonderful girl."

Bird smiles when describing the Cardinal she knows - the one not many see away from the rugged world of Big Ten basketball.

"He can be a romantic," she said. "He is a let-me-get-you-to-laugh kind of guy. I think that's what's most charming about him. He can always get me to smile, no matter how mad he makes me. He is a very caring person."

Before he began dating Duhart, Robinson's life on and off the court was like the roller coasters they enjoy riding at amusement parks.

"She is focused and is about her business," he said of his fiancee. "She knows how to separate sports from schoolwork. I need a person like that in my life. She really helps me do that. She doesn't tell me to do it, but her example rubs off on me."

Duhart has watched Robinson grow into a caring, responsible, mature young man.

"I just want Mike to realize his potential," she said. "He is an incredible person that I've been very fortunate to meet. Now, Mike takes pride in himself on and off the court. Mike did this himself."

Former Boilermakers B.J. Carretta and Jannon Roland are credited with assists in these basketball love stories.

Carretta and Bird were classmates at Fort Wayne Dwenger High School.

After observing Bird from a distance at Mackey Arena, Cardinal sent Carretta on an information-gathering mission.

"B.J. said, `What do you think about Brian Cardinal?' " Bird said. "I said, `Well, he's a good basketball player.' "

"B.J. said, `What do you think about him outside of basketball?' I said, `He is a nice guy.' Things progressed from there."

Upon learning Bird didn't have a boyfriend, Cardinal initiated a conversation, and they began dating.

Robinson first laid eyes on Duhart during their freshman year. He and former teammate Gary McQuay visited Roland's house, where several Purdue women's players were playing cards.

Duhart was preoccupied with the card game and doesn't remember meeting Robinson.

She, however, made an impression on him.

"I didn't notice Mike at all," Duhart said. "The next day, I was playing basketball at the Co-Rec, and he said, `I saw you at Jannon's house.' I said, `Oh, really.' "

He asked for a date, and last Valentine's Day, Robinson proposed. She happily accepted.

Bird and Cardinal have discussed marriage, but they will take a 20-second timeout while she seeks entry into medical school and he tries to wade into the world of professional basketball.

"There's a lot of things I would like to do after I graduate, and there's a lot of things he would like to do," Bird said. "We've decided to follow our dreams, and if it works out, it's meant to be. If it doesn't, it doesn't. We don't want to push anything. We want to take our time and make sure that's something that is going to last forever."

Like most college athletes, their sport and academics keep Duhart, Robinson, Bird and Cardinal busy.

Duhart is a public relations and political science major who will graduate in May. Bird is a general health sciences major.

Robinson is an Afro-American history major who will need 15 credit hours to graduate at semester's end. Cardinal is a management major.

Duhart and Robinson spend most of their free time watching televised sporting events and movies. Neither basketball junkie cares who is playing. As long as there is a game, they will be glued to a TV.

"It's nice to be around somebody who can appreciate sports," Robinson said. "We talk a lot about sports."

"You name any NBA player, and Mike knows the college he went to," Duhart said.