Men’s Basketball Tournament Information
TRAVEL
SUB-REGIONALS
Due to student demand, tickets may not be available for donor purchase in Raleigh. Should tickets be available for any site, allocation will be based on availability and Iron Dukes priority.
MARCH 17 & 19 Denver, CO Des Moines, IA Providence, RI Raleigh, NC MARCH 18 & 20 Brooklyn, NY Oklahoma City, OK St. Louis, MO Spokane, WA
TICKETS Tickets can be purchased at www.GoDuke.com/tickets or at 919-681-6767 during your designated request time on Monday, March 14. You must use your Iron Dukes login and password to purchase tickets. Group 1* 8:30–10:30am *Online ordering available Sunday, March 13 at 9:00pm Group 2 11:00am–1:00pm Groups 3 & 4 1:30–3:00pm Groups 5 & 6 3:30–4:30pm
Travel accommodations can be made through Anthony Travel at http://www. anthonytravel.com/dukembb/ or 1-844-845-5650 during your designated request time.
REGIONALS SOUTH REGIONAL March 24 & 26 Louisville, KY WEST REGIONAL March 24 & 26 Anaheim, CA MIDWEST REGIONAL March 25 & 27 Chicago, IL EAST REGIONAL March 25 & 27 Philadelphia, PA
TICKETS Tickets can be purchased at www.GoDuke.com/tickets or at 919-681-6767 during your designated request time on Monday, March 21. You must use your Iron Dukes login and password to purchase tickets. Groups 1 & 2* 8:30–10:30am *Online ordering available Sunday, March 20 at 9:00pm
Groups 3 & 4 11:00am–1:00pm Groups 5 & 6 1:30–4:30pm
TRAVEL Travel accommodations can be made through Anthony Travel at http://www. anthonytravel.com/dukembb/ or 1-844-845-5650 during your designated request time. Approximately 750 tickets are available for donor purchase. Allocation is based on availability and Iron Dukes priority.
FINAL FOUR NATIONAL SEMIFINALS April 2 NRG Stadium Houston, TX CHAMPIONSHIP GAME April 4 NRG Stadium Houston, TX
TICKETS Tickets can be purchased at www.GoDuke.com/tickets or at 919-681-6767 during your designated request time on Monday, March 28. You must use your Iron Dukes login and password to purchase tickets. Groups 1 & 2* (6 tickets) 8:30–10:30am *Online ordering available Sunday, March 27 at 9:00pm
Group 3 & 4 (2–6 tickets) 11:00am–1:00pm Groups 5 & 6 (0–2 tickets) 1:30–4:30pm
TRAVEL Travel accommodations can be made through Anthony Travel at http://www. anthonytravel.com/dukembb/ or 1-844-845-5650 during your designated request time. Approximately 2,000 tickets are available for donor purchase. Allocation is based on availability and Iron Dukes priority.
Women’s Basketball Tournament Information SUB-REGIONALS March 18 – 21 Location, dates, & ordering times are TBA
REGIONALS
FINAL FOUR
LEXINGTON REGIONAL March 25 & 27 Lexington, KY SIOUX FALLS REGIONAL March 25 & 27 Sioux Falls, SD BRIDGEPORT REGIONAL March 26 & 28 Bridgeport, CT DALLAS REGIONAL March 26 & 28 Dallas, TX
NATIONAL SEMIFINALS April 3 Indianapolis, IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME April 5 Indianapolis, IN
TICKETS Tickets can be purchased at www.GoDuke.com/tickets or at 919-681-6767 during your designated request time on Wednesday, March 23. You must use your Iron Dukes login and password to purchase tickets.
TRAVEL Travel accommodations can be made through Anthony Travel at http://www. anthonytravel.com/dukembb/ or 1-844-845-5650 on Wednesday, March 23.
TICKETS Tickets can be purchased at www.GoDuke.com/tickets or at 919-681-6767 during your designated request time on Wednesday, March 30. You must use your Iron Dukes login and password to purchase tickets.
TRAVEL Travel accommodations can be made through Anthony Travel at http://www. anthonytravel.com/dukembb/ or 1-844-845-5650 on Wednesday, March 30. We anticipate ample tickets to accommodate all requests for every round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament. Allocation is based on Iron Dukes priority.
GoDuke The Magazine 7.5 Dedicated to sharing the stories of Duke student-athletes, present and past
540 North Trade Street Winston-Salem, NC 27101 Phone 336-831-0769 Vol. 7, No. 5 January 2016 SENIOR EDITOR John Roth ‘80 ADVERTISING Patrick Streko General Manager
Johnny Moore Senior National Associate Ian Haynes Account Executive
Macey Hulvey Partner Services Coordinator CIRCULATION Sarah Brophy STAFF WRITERS Al Featherston ‘74, Leslie Gaber Barry Jacobs ‘72, Johnny Moore Jim Sumner ‘72, Lewis Bowling Brad Amersbach COVER PHOTO Jon Gardiner PRINTING RR Donnelley GoDuke The Magazine (ISSN 10668241) is published by IMG with editorial offices at 3100 Tower Blvd., Suite 404, Durham, NC 27707. Published monthly except July and August for 10 issues per year. Subscription price is $29.95. Periodical postage paid at WinstonSalem, NC, and additional mailing office. Postmaster send change of address to GoDuke The Magazine, 540 North Trade Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Advertising & Editorial Call 919-286-1498
Address Changes IRON DUKES MEMBERS: Call 919-613-7575 SUBSCRIBERS: Call 336-831-0769
GoDuke The Magazine is not owned or operated by Duke University. Reproduction of contents without permission is prohibited. © 2016 Blue Devil IMG Sports Network
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2016 Duke Football Schedule SEPTEMBER 3 NC Central 10 Wake Forest 17 at Northwestern 24 at Notre Dame
2015 RECORD | BOWL | VS DUKE 8-3 L 55-0 3-9 L 27-21 10-3 lost bowl W 19-10 10-3 lost bowl DNP
OCTOBER 1 Virginia 8 Army 14 at Louisville (Fri.) 29 at Georgia Tech
4-8 2-10 8-5 won bowl 3-9
NOVEMBER 5 Virginia Tech 10 North Carolina (Thurs.) 19 at Pittsburgh 26 at Miami
7-6 11-3 8-5 8-5
W 42-34 L 44-3 DNP L 34-20
won bowl L 45-43 4ot lost bowl W 66-31 lost bowl W 31-13 lost bowl W 30-27
Open Date Oct. 22 • ACC Championship Game Dec. 3
Dave Sime
1936-2016
Next month we will present a retrospective on the life of Duke Hall of Famer Dave Sime, who passed away on January 12 at the age of 79. Sime is regarded by some as the greatest athlete in Duke history, having held the world record in nine track events at one time or another during his heyday in the mid 1950s. He won 12 ACC track championships, was named the ACC athlete of the year, earned All-America honors and captured a silver medal in the 100 meters at the 1960 Olympics. Sime also played baseball and football at Duke and earned both his bachelor’s and medical degrees from the unversity.
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Soccer games and spin classes don’t keep a 9-5 schedule. That’s why if injury strikes, we’re here for you—evenings and weekends—with a quicker and less expensive option than a trip to the ER. Duke offers walk-in access to care for all orthopaedic related conditions, from breaks to sprains to concussions.
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> Blue Devil of the Month
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> The Numbers Game
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Seasons between three-game losing streaks for the Duke men’s basketball team, after the Blue Devils dropped three straight ACC contests in mid-January. The program’s last streak of three or more losses came at the end of the 2007 campaign (four in a row). And Duke only had four other two-game losing streaks in those nine seasons.
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NBA players named as finalists for the 2016 U.S. Olympic basketball team, to be coached by Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski for the third time. The pool includes one player Coach K had at Duke, Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star Kyrie Irving, bidding for his first Olympics. He was the MVP of the 2014 World Cup in helping Coach K’s squad to a gold medal.
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McDonald’s High School All-Americans signed by Coach K in his 36 seasons at Duke. The two latest honorees, incoming recruits Frank Jackson and Jayson Tatum, will play in the 39th McDonald’s game coming up March 30 at the United Center in Chicago. Duke’s 2015-16 roster includes seven players who were McDonald’s All-Americans.
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Rebounds collected by fifth-year Blue Devil Marshall Plumlee in the Duke-Syracuse game, establishing a new career high and marking his sixth double-digit rebounding game of the 2016 season. Plumlee gathered in 11 boards on the offensive glass and finished with 19 points as well as four blocked shots in one of his best games.
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Seconds required for Duke wrestler Conner Hartmann to pin J.T. Goodwin of Cal Poly in a recent match, the fastest fall of his career. The defending ACC champion improved his record to 16-1 heading into February and was ranked No. 5 in the nation. Hartman has earned fifth- and sixth-place finishes at the last two NCAA Championships.
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National ranking for Duke’s 2016 men’s tennis recruiting class, according to TennisRecruiting.net. Coach Ramsey Smith has signed two Top-10 players for next year in Robert Levine from Bedford, N.Y., and Nick Stachowiak from Cary, N.C. Levine has been ranked as high as No. 3 and Stachowiak as high as No. 6 among top prospects.
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Duke senior men’s lacrosse players chosen in the recent Major League Lacrosse draft, including overall No. 1 pick Myles Jones, No. 10 pick Deemer Class and No. 53 pick Case Matheis. All were chosen by the expansion Atlanta Blaze. Jones is the second Blue Devil to be the MLL top pick, following Ned Crotty in 2010.
4,304
Points scored in the pentathlon by fifth-year senior Karli Johonnot to win the recent Tobacco Road Multis, breaking the Duke school record in the event while registering the second highest point total in the country so far this season. Johonnot won the ACC pentathlon championship as a true freshman in 2011-12.
After playing 8 minutes per game the past 3 years, Plumlee has logged over 35 minutes per night in ACC games while averaging close to a double-double (11.4-9.3 through 8 league games)
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Bowl teams from 2015 that appear on the 2016 Duke football schedule, released in January. The six-game home slate includes NC Central, Wake Forest, Virginia, Army, Virginia Tech and UNC (on a Thursday night, Nov. 10). Road highlights include a September 24 trip to Notre Dame and a Friday night game at Louisville on October 14.
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Trophy Time
Yankee Stadium clubhouse a happy place after Duke’s Pinstripe Bowl win
Resilient Blue Devils have many reasons to celebrate By Johnny Moore • Photos Jon Gardiner
The definition of the word resilient is “able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.” The 2015 Duke football team may well be the epitome of resilience. After rolling up a 5-1 record on the season, the Blue Devils fought back time and time again at Virginia Tech to scrape out a four overtime 45-43 victory over the Hokies and become bowl-eligible for the fourth consecutive season. But then an incredible, controversial, game-ending play against Miami sent the Blue Devils into a tailspin as they lost that game plus the next three. A loss at Wake Forest to end the season would be dreadful for this program, whose fan base has only recently gotten used to winning. Even with a fourth quarter run by the Deacons, the Blue Devils put together a solid game and captured their seventh win of the year, 27-21. Their reward for a 7-5 regular season was a trip to New York City and a spot in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl — a very ironic matchup that would pit two of college basketball’s greatest programs, Duke and Indiana, playing each other in football, in one of the most iconic baseball stadiums, Yankee Stadium. As Duke prepared for its bowl game, a nagging wrist injury to
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All-America safety Jeremy Cash turned into a much more serious situation as surgery would keep the ACC’s defensive player of the year off the field for his final college game. So the Blue Devils would now be facing one of the nation’s most potent offensive attacks, which had scored over 40 points in five games, without its defensive star. Even with all the adversity, the Blue Devils had a very productive December practice and headed to the Big Apple with confidence. The days leading up to the game itself presented a wonderful experience for the team. Ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, visiting schools in the New York area and a very emotional visit to the 9/11 Memorial all made for a memorable bowl week prior to the game. “I’ve been very fortunate in my career to be a part of a lot of bowl games and I would use the word impeccable as far as this week went,” said Duke coach David Cutcliffe. After taking a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a Ross Martin 52-yard field goal and an 85-yard touchdown run by Shaun Wilson, the Blue Devils were tied 17-17 with the Hoosiers at the half. With “Mr. Excitement” DeVon Edwards having his hands full at the cornerback spot trying to cover Indiana receivers, it was time for some-
Bowl co-MVPs Thomas Sirk and Shaun Wilson help the Blue Devils pin 44 points on Indiana in Duke’s overtime win one else to step up and make something happen on special teams, and it came from the sophomore speedster Wilson, who, with the Blue Devils down seven with 11 minutes left, returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, breathing new life into his team. This game had so many ups and downs. Big plays from quarterback Thomas Sirk, Wilson and Martin, but disastrous plays as well — a dropped pass on a fake punt, an interception on a halfback pass, and a slip by the quarterback when the Blue Devils went for it on fourth-andone, giving up a sure three-point field goal. “At any point during this game, a team could have become dejected,” explained Cutcliffe. “I never saw any of that, not just our players, but from our staff. I’m going back and forth on the phones between the offensive and defensive staffs. We had a lot of great conversations about how we were going to win the game. Not hoping, but how, exactly what we were going to do, what we were going to run, what approach we would take defensively, overtime, et cetera, red zone reminders, which is what overtime ball is all about. I was really proud that our staff just continued to coach, believing we were going to win the game. That’s the critical thing, and the players were all in the entire time.” Even when Indiana scored with 4:03 left in the game to take a 41-34 lead, the Blue Devils came right back, driving the ball 78 yards down the field in 13 plays and scoring on a Sirk five-yard run to tie the game with 41 seconds left and eventually send it into overtime. Following a 35-yard field goal by Martin in the first overtime peri-
od, the Blue Devil defense stood tall and forced the Hoosiers into a big third-and-six at the 21-yard line. Freshman linebacker Ben Humphries broke through the line and forced Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld into a rushed throw for an incompletion, setting up a 38-yard field goal to send the game into its third overtime. “On third down we actually thought we could get a screen,” explained Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson. “We thought they would blitz. They kind of got us a little too quick. We actually thought they were going to blitz so we tried a tailback screen that we thought would pop. They didn’t blitz and we got caught in a clutter. “Duke was a little chess match today,” he continued. “Duke is gambling on certain situations. Sometimes we got burned and sometimes they got burned. In the end we calculated that they would blitz and we could throw the screen and pick up significant yardage. They didn’t and we got caught.” Onto the field trotted out Griffen Oakes, the Big Ten’s best field goal kicker and one of the best in the nation. He had already hit field goals of 45 and 27, and this looked to be a chip shot for him. But as the ball left the ground it seemed to fade a little over the right upright on the goal post and the back judge called it no good. The Blue Devils had won their first bowl game in 55 years! “Our team had a lot of heart, a lot of good leadership,” explained Cutcliffe following the game. “I’m not necessarily talking about this game, but in the preparation and the focus. We had 23 seniors that were very
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committed to this process. It wasn’t perfect tonight, but there was a will, a strong will to continue competing even when we fell behind in the fourth quarter. I think it was critical that we believed we could come out and pull this game out.” The Blue Devils were able to run the ball very effectively picking up 373 yards for the game on 46 carries for an average of 8.1 yards per carry. And the yardage was well dispersed with three players rushing for over 100 yards each, led by Sirk with 155, Jela Duncan with 109 and Shaun Wilson with 103. Wilson and Sirk were named co-MVPs, while Martin had 14 points on five PATs and three field goals. “All of those combinations allowed for us to have an opportunity to win the game,” explained Cutcliffe. “I like goals, but I like milestones better than I like goals,” Cutcliffe noted as he finished his eighth season as the Blue Devil head coach. “First time ever eight or more wins for three straight years, first bowl win since 1961. Those are milestones. There are so many things happening in Duke football right now that that’s kind of how we approach it. We’ve had back-to-back consensus All-Americas two years in a row. There are so many positives about our players. These are all milestones that the players have accomplished on the field. That’s beautiful. They’ve also done it off the field. The first thing I did in the locker room was sincerely thank our seniors for what they’ve meant to all of us. I thanked them for raising the bar. The expectations of Duke football continue to grow and that’s a big deal.” “We’ve been hearing 1961 since my freshman year,” Duke senior center Matt Skura said. “It’s been a goal for a long time. It’s just not the senior class that’s been a part of this, it’s the senior classes before me.” The final question that Cutcliffe took in his postgame press conference was: “We’ve heard you say in the past that the next step for Duke football was to hoist a trophy at the end of the year. Now that it’s happened…” The questioner was cut off in mid-sentence by Cutcliffe, who quickly replied, “Make it a habit.” Even Cutcliffe feels he personally has some improvements to make as this Duke football program continues to progress. “It was so much fun at the end of the game to sit back and watch our players. I could hardly
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talk to the TV guys trying to interview me, and I just wanted to watch our players. That’s joy. There was so much joy in my heart, I almost forgot where I was, and I almost forgot there was a trophy presentation. “My next step, I want to be better at the trophy presentation than I was tonight,” he continued, with a wide grin on his face. “I want to grow in that regard.” With the incredible success that Cutcliffe has already had with the Duke football program, he’s a good bet to get the chance to improve on those trophy presentations in the future.
Coach Cutcliffe with President Brodhead and his wife Cindy
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[ Anniversary Special 50 ] th
1966: A History-Making Season • By Al Featherston
Duke routed top-ranked UCLA on back-to-back nights — first in Durham, then in Charlotte — early in the 1965-66 season The 1965-66 basketball season was a pivotal moment in college basketball history. The emergence of the black basketball player had been a long time coming — CCNY was the first integrated NCAA champion in 1950 — but the victory of an all-black Texas Western team over all-white Kentucky in the 1966 title game was a watershed event in the integration of the sport. And Duke, enjoying one of its greatest seasons under Vic Bubas, came heartbreakingly close to supplanting Kentucky in that historic game 50 years ago. That memorable season did not get off to a good start for the Blue Devils. Bubas’ powerful team — heavy favorites to win a fourth straight ACC regular season championship — traveled to South Carolina in early December to meet a young Gamecock team picked last in the league. But South Carolina coach Frank McGuire had loaded the program with young talent and on the night of Dec. 5, 1965, they played inspired basketball, upsetting No. 3 Duke, 73-71. The Blue Devils may have been caught looking ahead. Four days
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after the Monday night loss in Columbia, Bubas’ team faced off against No. 1 UCLA in Durham. Duke shredded John Wooden’s famous zone press and dominated the Bruins, 82-66. One night later, in the Charlotte Coliseum, the Devils did it again, routing UCLA, 94-79. The next week, Bubas’ team claimed the nation’s No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history. The twin victories over the Bruins would ignite one of the great seasons in Duke history. The 1965-66 Blue Devils went 26-4 and finished No. 2 in the final AP poll, winning the ACC regular season and tournament titles, reaching the Final Four for the third time in four years. It might have been even better — only an untimely illness stood between Duke and a historic showdown in the national title game. Bubas boasted a wonderfully balanced squad with seniors Jack Marin and Steve Vacendak playing starring roles, along with junior guard Bob Verga. They were joined by Bob Riedy, a rugged junior forward, and Mike Lewis, an even more rugged sophomore center from Montana. The two UCLA victories propelled Duke to 13 straight wins (including a thrilling come-from-behind overtime victory over No. 3 Michigan
Bob Verga averaged 18.5 points in 1966 (and 26.1 in 1967) but was sick for the Final Four showdown with Kentucky in Detroit’s Cobo Hall) before West Virginia, coached by former Bubas assistant Bucky Waters, upset the Devils in Morgantown. Duke won five of six down the stretch, finishing off the regular season with a 77-63 whipping of North Carolina. But even though Duke won the ACC regular season title by a full three games, that was no guarantee of an NCAA bid. Only the ACC Tournament winner was allowed to advance to the NCAA Tournament. A year earlier, Duke had won the regular season, but was upset in the tournament finals by N.C. State. The Wolfpack, playing on its home court, would be waiting for Duke again in the finals. But to even get that far, the Blue Devils had to survive a memorable test in the semifinals. After beating Maryland in the first round, North Carolina coach Dean Smith told reporters, “We are looking forward to playing Duke. We want this chance.” Smith was about to unveil his most famous tactic against the Blue Devils — the Four Corners delay game. Smith knew that if the ’66 Blue Devils had a weakness, it was lack of speed. That’s why when Smith spread the floor in the ACC semifinals, Bubas stayed back in a zone and refused to chase the smaller, quicker Tar Heels. With little action, Duke managed a 7-5 halftime lead. Bubas tried to be more aggressive in the second half, but the tactic merely allowed UNC to forge a 17-12 lead with 10 minutes to play. Vacendak brought the Devils back. The senior guard woke up the Duke fans with a spectacular save on a ball headed out of bounds and later hit a 20-foot jumper to tie the game at 20-all. After UNC missed a free throw at the other end, Duke held for the final shot. Bubas designed a play to free Verga, but two UNC defenders tracked the Blue Devil sharpshooter when he tried to rub off a screen set by Lewis. That freed up Lewis, who powered inside, but was mugged as he put up a shot. There were four seconds left when the big sophomore stepped to the
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free throw line for two shots. “The basket looked the size of a dime,” Lewis said. His first shot clanked away. Lewis’ second try hit the rim and rolled in. UNC couldn’t get off a shot in the final four seconds and Duke was able to escape with a 21-20 victory in the ACC’s first real deep freeze game. “A lot of people think I should be mad at Dean and Carolina for holding the ball on us,” Bubas said. “I’m not mad at all. They played by the rules and did what they thought would win for them. You can’t be a cry baby.” Bubas was already looking ahead to the rematch with N.C. State. The two Big Four rivals had met in the Southern Conference or ACC championship game on eight previous occasions with the Wolfpack winning seven. For most of the title game, N.C. State appeared poised to repeat its 1965 upset of the Blue Devils. The Wolfpack, getting a superb game from Eddie Biedenbach, led the entire first half and fought off an early Duke surge in the second and regained control. The Pack was still on top 63-60 when Lewis, Marin and Riedy played volleyball with a missed shot under the Duke basket, combining to tip it at least five times before Lewis finally got the ball to go in. When State missed at the other end, Vacendak grabbed the rebound and raced upcourt, pulling up to hit a jumper that gave Duke the lead. When State again missed at its end, reserve guard Ron Wendelin launched a jumper from beyond the top of the key. The ball hit the rim and bounced several times before dropping through to give the Devils a three-point lead with under three minutes left. Duke was able to protect that lead at the foul line to win, 71-66. Bubas, celebrating his third ACC championship in four seasons, told reporters that it was the toughest title to win. “No team ever deserved this more than we did,” he said. The star of the title game was Duke’s Vacendak.
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“Vacendak is the biggest battler I’ve seen since I’ve been at Duke,” Bubas said. “There is no doubt to me who left the most out there — Vacendak. He’s a clutch player.” It was not surprising that Vacendak won the Everett Case Award as the MVP of the ACC Tournament. What was surprising is that three days later, the Duke senior, just ninth in the voting for the All-ACC teams the week before, beat out teammate Jack Marin in the voting for the ACC player of the year award. The ACC championship earned Duke a bye into the NCAA Sweet 16 in Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. The NCAA Tournament was unseeded in those days and the No. 2 ranked Blue Devils were matched against No. 5 St. Joseph’s in Friday night’s semifinal round. Unranked Syracuse was taking on unranked Davidson in the other semifinal. Duke struggled at times against the Hawks’ pressure. Despite committing 19 turnovers, the Devils nursed a narrow lead down the stretch. Twice in the final minute, St. Joe’s closed to within two points, but on both occasions, Marin stepped to the line and converted both ends of a one-and-one. His final two free throws with five seconds left gave Duke just enough margin to withstand Marty Ford’s 40-foot buzzer-beater. Despite the 74-72 win, Bubas was not exactly thrilled. Future NBA All-Star Jack Marin “If you ask me, ‘Did averaged 18.9 points and 9.7 you play hard?’ the answer rebounds for 1966 Blue Devils is yes,” the Blue Devil coach said. “If you ask me, ‘Did you play smart? The answer is no.” Duke’s victory earned the Devils a spot in the East Regional title game, where the Devils were matched against Syracuse. The Orangemen had destroyed Davidson in the second East semifinals. Bubas’ biggest concern was All-American Dave Bing. Assistant coach Chuck Daly came up with a scheme to contain the powerful guard. “It was Coach Daly’s suggestion that we use a 3-2 zone defense with Jack Marin playing the point,” Bubas said. “We thought it was the best way to handle Bing and make Syracuse shoot from the outside.” Bing managed just 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting against Daly’s defensive scheme. Bing’s backcourt mate, Jim Boeheim, found some gaps in the corners and scored 16 points, but with Bing off his game, the Orangemen couldn’t match Duke’s balance. Duke put all five starters in double figures in a 91-81 victory. OFF TO COLLEGE PARK In hindsight, Texas Western’s drive to the national title would be portrayed as a turning point in college basketball history, but leading up to the Final Four in Maryland’s Cole Field House, the big story was the semifinal matchup between No. 1 Kentucky and No. 2 Duke. “Duke is the best team I’ve seen all year,” UCLA’s Wooden said. “But I haven’t seen Kentucky. Let’s just say (the champion will be) the winner of Duke-Kentucky.”
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Bubas went into the game under a considerable handicap. All-American Bob Verga was hospitalized with a throat infection. When Kentucky’s Rupp heard the news, he sent Larry Conley to the infirmary, telling reporters that his senior guard had the flu. Several years later, when Duke participated in the Kentucky Invitational Tournament, a member of Rupp’s staff bragged that Conley’s illness was actually just a clever ploy to prevent Duke from earning a psychological advantage from Verga’s illness. Whatever the truth, Conley played his normal game, while an obviously subpar Verga missed 5-of-7 shots and finished with a mere seven points. Yet, even with Verga below par, Duke started strong as Marin abused Kentucky defender Pat Riley time after time. Duke led by one at the half and trailed just 73-71 with just over two minutes left when Wendelin fed the ball inside to Lewis, who missed what would have been the game-tying layup. Kentucky converted Lewis’ miss into a fast break and a 75-71 lead that the Wildcats were able to protect down the stretch for an 83-79 victory. “I don’t want a man to go out of this room and write that I said we could have beaten Kentucky with a well Bobby Verga,” Bubas told reporters afterwards. “I know Bobby is a better player than he showed and we are a stronger club when he is well. We are better, a whole lot better, when he is healthy. Would we have won with a healthy Bob Verga? Only God knows that.” The big question is whether a healthy Verga would have carried Duke into the title game with Texas Western? Would Duke — still an all-white team, although C.B. Claiborne, the school’s first black player was on the freshman team that season — have replaced Kentucky in the history books as the symbol of resistance to integration? Or would Duke have changed the story line and succeeded where Kentucky failed? The Blue Devils, a superb ball-handling team that had handled UCLA’s press with ease, might not have wilted as Kentucky did under the pressure of Willie Worsley, Orsten Aris and Bobby Joe Hill. And Bubas had something that Rupp’s Runts didn’t — a genuine big man to match up with David Lattin in the post. “If we could have been at full strength, I’d have welcomed a shot at Texas Western,” Bubas said when asked about such speculation. “I don’t say we would have beaten them, but we could have given them a whirl.” Duke closed out the season with a dramatic victory over Utah in the third-place game, but the Devils were still disappointed by their near miss. That doesn’t detract from one of the great seasons in Duke basketball history. 1966 PHOTOS: COURTESY DURHAM HERALD-SUN, DUKE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
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[ Anniversary Special 30 ] th
1986: All The Pieces Come Together • By Barry Jacobs
Coach K’s 1986 senior class: Jay Bilas, David Henderson, Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie, Weldon Williams The outcome looks inevitable only in retrospect. The season that brought breakthrough prominence to modern Duke men’s basketball materialized slowly, prefaced by painful struggles. But as the pieces came together over a few formative years, and skills were developed and polished, as the momentum built, you could see the emergence of a special group, a special team, a special time. Perhaps only Duke’s fiery young coach, scrambling to establish his program, foresaw the impact the 1985-86 season would have on his school, his career, his sport. And surely even he couldn’t envision the 37 victories in a season, a mark that would go unmatched in college basketball for more than 20 years; the dual finishes atop the ACC in the regular season and conference tournament; the advance to the first of a dozen Final Fours; and the Blue Devils’ emergence as a force to be reckoned with in virtually every season since. “This is one of the great teams I’ve seen in college basketball,” no less an authority than Dean Smith, North Carolina’s late Hall of Fame coach, said at the time, “and our team is no slouch.” The roots of greatness were planted prior to the 1982-83 season with a six-man recruiting class regarded as the best in the nation. The previous
year, struggling Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski whiffed on all the bigtime recruits he sought, most prominently shooter Chris Mullen, who went to St. John’s and became an All-American and later an all-pro and Hall of Famer. Then Krzyzewski landed a trove of talent from all over the country: 6-8 Mark Alarie from Arizona, 6-8 Jay Bilas from California, 6-2 Johnny Dawkins from D.C., 6-5 David Henderson from North Carolina, 6-8 Bill Jackman from Nebraska, and 6-6 Weldon Williams from Illinois. Alarie, a smooth forward, was forced to play that first year at center. Dawkins, a wiry, graceful, natural scorer at guard, was similarly pressed into service as a playmaker. Bilas thought and fouled too much, got pushed around inside. Henderson, largely overlooked in recruiting, built a role as a jack-of-all- trades. Williams stumbled academically, and never became a regular. Jackman transferred. By the end of his career Alarie was a three-time All-ACC choice and a consistent scorer and rebounder. Henderson became one of the best defenders and all-around players in the ACC, and was honored as the tournament MVP in the first Preseason NIT in the fall of 1985. Bilas bulked up, was nicknamed “Arnold” for actor and bodybuilder Arnold
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Schwarzenegger, and became a reliable post presence. Dawkins, a slashing driver with a soft touch on his left-handed jumpers, paced Duke in scoring annually and was picked all-conference every year he played. His 2,556 career points, largely accumulated without benefit of a 3-point field goal, stood second in league annals until surpassed by Duke’s J.J. Redick in 2006. “Duke was down when I came here and it’s great to grow with the program,” said Dawkins, whose jersey number 24 was retired when his career concluded, “because as the program grows, your success grows as an individual player.” While individuals emerged as stars, an intense sense of “camaraderie” also developed, according to Billy King, who joined the team in 1985 and became a defensive stopper. “We were very close, and we’re still close today. That to me was the best thing about the ’86 season,” says King, an NBA executive. “We were doing it for each other.” The Blue Devils won only 11 games in ‘83, outscored by 3.5 points per outing. They reached a regular-season nadir in an early-January loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium against lowly Wagner College, a disaster to which Krzyzewski referred for many years as a humbling reminder of competitive vulnerability. Then, come the ACC Tournament in Atlanta, the Devils were crushed by a veteran Virginia squad led by Ralph Sampson, a 109-66 verdict that remains the most decisive in the history of the event. All the while Krzyzewski stuck with his preferred approach to the game, embodied in motion offense and pass-denying, physical man-toman defense. “When I took this job I knew there were going to be some tough times,” Krzyzewski said back then. “They actually were even tougher than I anticipated. However, you have to do what you think is right and just have some patience and persistence, and just stay with it.” As Duke struggled, its Triangle neighbors enjoyed conspicuous prosperity. In 1981, Krzyzewski’s first season after coming south from the U.S. Military Academy, North Carolina reached the national championship game. In 1982, even as the Devils lost 17 games, won but 10, and endured internal strife between the new guys and Bill Foster holdovers, the Tar Heels won Smith’s first NCAA title. Then in 1983, while Duke again suffered 17 defeats, N.C. State won the national championship under coach Jim Valvano, who arrived at Raleigh as Krzyzewski, his contemporary, landed in Durham. The Devils’ fortunes clearly turned in 1983-84 when a slight playmaker from Virginia, Harold “Tommy” Amaker, joined a squad populated entirely with Krzyzewski’s recruits. His steady hand and keen understanding of the game, well-attuned to his coach, helped transform an already talented unit into an exceptional one. Amaker’s presence freed his backcourt mate from running the offense; with the ball skills Dawkins already had developed he was the ACC’s No. 2 scorer each season from 1984 through 1986. “Playing with Tommy over the last few years has been a two-guard’s dream,” said Dawkins, who graduated in 1986. “I think his unselfishness has spread to our whole club, and that has made us the team we are today.” Added Bilas, who roomed with Amaker on the road: “Tommy was the best teammate I’ve ever had. It’s no accident that Duke started winning when he took over the ball.” Amaker’s freshman year the Blue Devils immediately became a force, improving to 24-10. The ’84 squad made the ACC Tournament finals — in the process handing a UNC team led by Michael Jordan its only league loss in 16 games — and earned the first of 31 NCAA berths under Krzyzewski. The same core group, bolstered by freshmen King and wing Kevin Strickland, went 23-8 in 1985 and again reached the NCAAs. The Devils also finished in the Associated Press top 10 for the first time under Krzyzewski. But it was the 1986 squad, augmented by freshmen Danny Ferry and Quin Snyder, that firmly established Krzyzewski’s program among the
game’s elite. The ’86 Blue Devils opened with 16 straight victories, lost twice on the road in mid-January, then reeled off 21 more wins. They finished atop the ACC regular-season standings, a first for the school since 1979, and won the ACC Tournament for the first time since 1980. Ranked No. 1 entering NCAA competition, Duke reached the championship game, only to lose to Louisville. The Devils outrebounded opponents by 5.9 per game, best at Duke under Krzyzewski until 1999, and outscored rivals by an average of 12.7 points. They were also a stifling defensive force, creating 19.3 turnovers per game while collecting nine steals. When the 1986 season ended Duke was 37-3, still the most wins in school history. Along the way the squad accomplished two rare feats. On a grand scale, it set a standard of excellence that’s become an accustomed part of the college basketball landscape. And, more personally, it shaped the lives of those who were along for the ride. Three members of the ’86 team remain in coaching today. Two more served as NBA general managers. Several others moved in and out of coaching. Bilas does commentary on college basketball telecasts. It’s not hyperbole to say the game captured them, just as that special squad captured the respect and admiration of those who saw it in action.
Mark Alarie goes inside on Louisville in 1986 NCAA final 1986 PHOTOS: COURTESY DUKE ATHLETICS
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1991: Slaying The Rebel Beasts • By Jim Sumner
Sports Illustrated was ready to call a winner of the 1991 Final Four before anyone had tipped off. The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels were in the house and “the question becomes not whether the Rebels will win their second straight championship but how easily they will do it.” It wasn’t an unreasonable position. UNLV had won their final 11 games in 1990, including a 103-73 demolition of Duke in the title game. Most of that team returned, including 1991 national player of the year Larry Johnson and fellow first-team All-American Stacey Augmon. Vegas blasted through the regular season and into the Final Four — held in Indianapolis — barely being tested. Their closest regular-season win was by 12 points, while Georgetown lost by eight in the NCAAs. Only Arkansas and Michigan State led UNLV in the second half. They were joined in Indy by North Carolina, Kansas and Duke. There’s a myth that 1991 was considered a rebuilding year for Duke. The Blue Devils did lose three starters. But they returned budding superstar Christian Laettner and point guard Bobby Hurley and added dynamic freshman forward Grant Hill, giving them three of the best players in the country, Complementary players Billy McCaffrey, Thomas Hill, Brian Davis and Greg Koubek — all wings — improved from 1990, while Crawford Palmer and freshman Antonio Lang provided interior depth. Duke started the season ranked sixth in the AP poll. Mike Krzyzewski said he knew he had a good team in December when Duke went to Norman and ended a 51-game Oklahoma home winning streak, 91-85. Duke swept North Carolina and captured the ACC regular-season title. The Tar Heels gained a measure of revenge in defeating Duke 9472 in the ACC Tournament, which dropped Duke to a two seed in the Midwest Region. Duke rebounded nicely, with double-digit wins over Louisiana-Monroe, Iowa, Connecticut and St. John’s to reach its fourth straight Final Four. Duke was matched against UNLV in the semifinals. Krzyzewski played the role of victim in public, telling the media “the more tape you watch of them, the more scared you get of them.” Behind closed doors, he was telling his team a different story. “Coach told us we were going to win it all and if you didn’t believe that, then don’t bother getting on the bus,” Koubek recalls. It wasn’t just pep talks. Krzyzewski emphasized the advantages of Duke’s superior schedule. “We knew that we had faced amazing competition that year,” he recalls. “We played a heck of a schedule. We were in tough environments. UNLV had not been. They had not been in any close games. They just dominated. We knew that if we could be close the whole game, that in end-of-game situations, we would be better prepared.” Grant Hill recalls practicing five against seven “to prepare for their length and athleticism.” Krzyzewski also came up with a plan to control Johnson, UNLV’s 6-7, 250-pound behemoth “We played off their big. Greg fronted him and Christian played behind him. No one had ever done that to him. If it’s easy to see somebody, you get it. But when you’ve never been in a position where it’s hard to see somebody, for that small amount of time, they don’t look at him.
Brian Davis’ sign says it all at 1991 Final Four They went to something else.” Koubek got the first shot at Johnson. “The basic principle of manto-man defense is see the ball, see your man. K told me to forget the ball. Get in front of Johnson and make them throw it over the top, where Christian would double him. It was constant battling. But we never let them get into a rhythm.” Duke would hold Johnson to 13 points, 11 below his average. There were risks involved. Duke accurately gambled that offensively-challenged UNLV center George Ackles couldn’t make them pay for the double-team, while playing in front of Johnson gave the Rebels extra chances for offensive rebounds. Krzyzewski emphasizes that none of this would work if Duke didn’t get off to a good start. “We needed to win the first few rounds. They needed to see where we were at.”
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Grant Hill got the opening tap and scored off the dribble. Hill says Duke needed to send an early message. “It set the tone. It was almost like a steal off the tap. It wasn’t the kind of game where we could get behind early and ease back in. We came out ready. We let them know how they weren’t going to punk us, weren’t going to scare us.” Vegas responded with a 3-pointer but Laettner followed with a 3 of his own, Grant Hill scored in transition off a great feed from Hurley and Laettner hit a pair of free throws. It was 9-3 after two minutes. Duke got its biggest lead at 15-6, with Laettner (9) and Hill (6) accounting for all 15. The mobile Laettner was such a matchup nightmare that Tarkanian pulled his team out of its aggressive, trademark man-to-man into a hybrid defense he called “Amoeba.” The Amoeba had chewed up Duke in 1990. But the Blue Devils were ready this time, successfully attacking the gaps. Krzyzewski says Hurley was the key to the fast start. “I thought that Hurley was primed for the game. Bobby took it (1990) personally and I’m glad he did.”
The second half was a combination ballet/street fight, with great plays, hard glares, even harder fouls. Neither team could get any separation. The teams traded baskets and leads. The game was tied at 43, 48, 51, 53, 54, 57. Duke took leads of 64-59 and 65-61. Johnson was assessed a technical foul for arguing a non-call and bodies kept bouncing off the floor. Koubek recalls Johnson elbowing him in the back of the neck, when they were running down court. “It hurt. But it was a good hurt. I knew he was getting frustrated.” The clock kept ticking and the tensions mounted. Vegas used a 13-7 run to go up 74-71. The game’s biggest play happened at that point, Davis drawing a charge on Anthony, the fifth foul for UNLV’s leader and only real point guard. Duke didn’t derive any immediate benefit. The Blue Devils missed two shots on their next possession and Ackles converted another of those putbacks.
Everything was going Duke’s way. Well, almost everything. The Rebels attacked their offensive glass with a vengeance. Johnson scored off a rebound to make it 15-12, then Ackles, Greg Anthony and Augmon and it was tied at 18. At that point, UNLV had a 12-0 advantage in second-chance points, an 11-0 edge in offensive rebounds. Grant Hill makes the point that Duke’s plan was to limit fast-break baskets, the kind that killed Duke a year earlier. Vegas ended up out-rebounding Duke 39-21. Duke was able to withstand the Vegas surge and pulled back to a sixpoint lead, at 37-31, while putting Ackles on the bench with three fouls That lead lasted barely a minute, Anderson Hunt and Anthony tying it with 3-pointers and Augmon scoring off a steal. An Anthony layup put his team up 43-41, as the teams broke for intermission. Duke had executed its game plan to perfection and still trailed. “We were not feeling down at all,” Koubek recalls. “We felt quite the opposite. We were doing things the right way.”
Both teams were teetering. Hurley got open and nailed a 3-pointer, which Krzyzewski later called “the biggest shot I’ve ever seen a Duke basketball player make.” It was 76-74. Vegas was confused, uncertain. Just like Krzyzewski predicted. Duke forced a shot-clock violation (it was a 45-second clock in those days), largely because Grant Hill refused to let Augmon get the ball. Augmon ended the game with six points. “This was the game when I realized I could be a pretty good defender,” Hill recalls. “My versatility bothered him.” Davis gave Duke the lead, driving the baseline and finishing the old-fashioned three-point play. The unheralded Davis was Duke’s second-leading scorer, with 15 points. Johnson rebounded a Vegas miss and made one of two from the line, after a lane violation by Duke voided a miss. There was almost a minute left, so Duke couldn’t hold for a final shot. Thomas Hill missed a short jumper and the team that had dominated the boards was a defensive rebound away from holding for the final shot,
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with the score tied. But this time it was Duke with the second chance. Grant Hill kept it alive, Laettner grabbed it and drew the foul. Arguably the best clutch player in NCAA Tournament history, Laettner didn’t even hit the rim on either shot, the last of his 28 points. 79-77, with 12.7 seconds left. Plenty of time for an undefeated team with two All-Americans to get a good shot. But Anthony was on the bench, Johnson was flustered, Hill had taken Augmon out of the game and the Runnin’ Rebels were staggering through a place they had never expected to be. Grant Hill says Duke was where it wanted to be. “We wanted to win it with our D. That’s who we are. One possession and we win. Be alert, be on point, communicate.” Johnson had an open shot for an instant, couldn’t pull the trigger and passed backwards. Hunt’s desperation shot never came close. A mad celebration ensued, moderated by Krzyzewski trying to dial back the celebration. One more game. Koubek says it didn’t take Duke long to turn their attention to Monday night’s title game against Kansas, a surprise winner over North Carolina. “We remembered what happened the year before, when we never really came down from the (semifinal) win over Arkansas. Beating UNLV would have made most team’s season. But it didn’t make ours. Second place wasn’t good enough.” Grant Hill adds that Krzyzewski had prepared them for this all season, reminding them that every two-game-in-three-days sequence was a rehearsal for Indy. Duke was tired and Kansas was a dogged opponent. But Duke led wire-to-wire, the 72-65 win a tough, monumental victory. But not a legendary victory. Not like Vegas. Was the win over UNLV the biggest in Duke history? Krzyzewski says it’s on the short list. “The ’91 Duke-UNLV game will rank against any other great game,” he notes. “You don’t have
many programs coming into a game winning 45 in a row and being the previous national champion, playing a team with the pedigree of Duke seeking its first national championship. You can have a great game, but without those components, without the level of player on the court and a chance to play for a national championship.” Grant Hill says he understands why people consider it an upset. But he says he expected to win. “We became an elite program that night, a program capable of winning national championships.”
Bobby Hurley’s 12 points and 7 assists pace win over UNLV 1991 PHOTOS: COURTESY DURHAM HERALD-SUN, MICHAEL CONROY/ASSOCIATED PRESS, DUKE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
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2006: A Senior Year To Savor • By John Roth Redick enjoyed one of his best games with 41 points vs. Texas, hitting 9-of-12 from 3-point land
At a school that has always treasured its seniors and reveled in their exploits, it would be difficult to place any senior year on a plateau higher than the one Jonathan Clay Redick enjoyed 10 years ago during the winter of 2006. It may not have ended in the Final Four, as did the senior years of many of Redick’s fellow Blue Devil legends from Heyman, Mullins and Marin to Dawkins, Ferry, Laettner, Battier and Grant Hill. But Redick’s performance from start to finish in his final year as a collegian was as spectacular and as celebrated as any of his Duke predecessors or successors. “Really no player has played any better than J.J. Redick played at Duke for four years,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said recently. “I’m not saying he played better than (Christian) Laettner or (Bobby) Hurley, but they didn’t play better. And he didn’t always have the surrounding cast. He had Shelden Williams, but people would double- and triple-team and try to do everything to stop him. “He’s such a great competitor and could go down in the history of the ACC as the best shooter ever in the ACC. He’s right there with anybody.” Redick, a 6-foot-4 guard from Roanoke, Va., helped Duke reach the Final Four in 2004 and entered his senior season coming off a 2005 campaign that saw him lead the ACC in scoring at 21.8 points per game while picking up unanimous first-team All-America honors, the ACC player of the year trophy and one national player of the year award. But what he did as a senior dwarfed all those substantial accomplishments. Redick’s 26.8 scoring average in 2006 not only led the ACC — it also ranked second in the nation and broke Bob Verga’s 39-year-old mark of 26.1 as the best in Duke history. Likewise, his 964 total points (in 36 games) became a new Duke standard for one season, surpassing Jason Williams’ previous record of 841 (in 39 games). Redick’s average in ACC games was even higher, at 29.4 per contest. His colleague Shelden Williams averaged a double-double at 19.6 points and 11.3 boards in conference games, and the duo paced the Blue Devils to both the regular season and tournament championships, not to mention the No. 1 ranking in the final AP national poll of the season and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Redick repeated his junior year accolades of ACC player of the year and consensus All-America. But this time, instead of one national player of the year honor, he won virtually all of them — and later added the Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the country. “For his senior year, for him to average (almost) 30 points a game in the conference, that’s amazing if you think about it,” noted Duke associate head coach Jeff Capel, who was the head coach at VCU in 2006. “Put it in perspective: you are the guy on everyone’s scouting report. You are the guy they are geared to stop. And you are not a guy who’s taking a lot of high percentage stuff around the basket. You’re coming off screens, people are physically trying to beat you up, people are mentally trying to beat you up — and you’re kicking their butt every night. To average 30, that means you’re getting some 40s, you’re getting some 38s, and you’re doing it with incredible efficiency. I thought it was an incredible senior year to cap off an amazing career for him.” To Capel’s point, Redick hit for double figures in every game, had 28 contests with at least 20 points, 14 games with at least 30 and three in the
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40s. His movement without the ball to put himself in position to score was off the charts, as was his ability to attack from anywhere on the floor. Almost half of his 302 made field goals came from behind the 3-point arc, and almost a quarter of his points came from the free throw stripe. He led Duke in scoring 30 times in 36 games while playing without hesitation or restriction on the offensive end of the floor. “A lot of plays worked when you had him as the option,” Coach K remarked. “One of Coach’s greatest strengths is allowing his players to play with great freedom,” said Redick, now a star with the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA. “Particularly my last two years at Duke, I felt like I had the ultimate green light and could take any shot, provided it was within the context of playing real basketball. If you watch some of my tapes from when I played at Duke, there were some ridiculous shots that were made, and I wouldn’t have been able to take those shots, much less make them, if Coach hadn’t granted me that freedom.” While Redick’s numbers register as overwhelming when viewed historically in the aggregate, the journey of his final season was equally compelling, bordering on epic at times. Early in the year Redick and Williams led Duke to the championship of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Redick had his first 30-point game of the season in the semis against Drexel, then Williams had 30 in the title contest to take MVP honors. Five days later Redick came up big again with 29 points to lead Duke over Indiana in Bloomington. The ACC opener was next and Redick had a rare “off” day with 18 points on 6-of-19 shooting — but no one who was there will remember anything but the halfcourt shot Sean Dockery nailed at the buzzer to win the game. One of the most remarkable performances of Redick’s season, and career, came in mid-December when No. 1 Duke met No. 2 Texas in a Saturday showdown at The Meadowlands in New Jersey. After a close first half, Duke won in a rout, 97-66, behind 41 from Redick. In addition to reaching his career scoring high, Redick matched the Duke record for most 3-pointers in a game (9), broke the school record for most 3-point-
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ers in a career and passed the 2,000-point mark for his career. Yes, all that in the same game. Redick had his second 41-point performance of the year in January, at Georgetown, but it was not enough to prevent the Blue Devils from losing their first game after a 17-0 start. Two games later he dropped another 40 on Virginia on one of the hottest shooting nights this side of Laettner vs. Kentucky. He went 11-of-13 from the floor, 8-of-10 from 3-point land, and 10-of-11 from the foul line. A Redick 3-pointer in overtime, to cap a 36-point day, helped Duke win a shootout with Florida State, 97-96. Next game his 35 points included a step-back jumper behind the arc that flummoxed his defender and helped Duke win a nail-biter at Chapel Hill. Against Wake Forest on Valentine’s Day, Redick broke the NCAA record for career 3-pointers that had been held by Virginia’s Curtis Staples, who was on hand at Cameron to present J.J. with a game ball. In Duke’s next game against Miami, he became the Blue Devils’ all-time scoring leader, topping a mark that had been held by Johnny Dawkins (Krzyzewski’s associate head coach at the time) for 20 years. Two games later he hit a pair of free throws against Temple to break Dickie Hemric’s all-time ACC scoring record, which had stood for over 50 years. Redick endured a bit of shooting slump near the end of the regular season, but he had one of his all-time clutch performances to pace Duke to the ACC title in his final conference tournament. He connected on 7-of-11 shots from 3-point land in the championship game against Boston College, hitting three in a row at one point to give the Blue Devils a 10-point margin. After BC stormed back to take the lead, Redick nailed a 3 to tie the score with 1:53 left, then hit another with 1:17 to go to give Duke the lead for good. He became just the fourth player in league history to win the tourney MVP award in back-to-back years. Redick finished his career as the all-time scoring leader in ACC Tournament history, and he broke the NCAA 3-pointer mark for a second time. Keydren Clark of St. Peter’s had passed Redick’s total during his MAAC tourney, but J.J. got it back by hitting 15 treys during the ACC tourney. Redick’s senior year ended on a note of gloom in the NCAA Sweet 16, when he went just 3-of-18 from the field for 11 points as Duke fell to LSU. But his final tally of 2,769 points was the most in ACC history at that point, his 457 3-pointers stood as the NCAA record and his .912 free throw percentage was the best in NCAA history among players with at least 600 makes. Duke’s record was 32-4 for the season and 116-23 over his four years. “As I get older I realize how important Duke is,” said Redick, who recently hit his NBA career high with a 40-point night against Houston on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. “I’m not a nostalgic person by nature. I’m always thinking about the next thing. There’s always more to be done. There’s a saying I like — ‘You’ve never arrived, you’re always becoming’ — and I think that’s the reason I’ve been successful in life. However, (back in the fall) I walked into Cameron for the first time in two years and I actually started crying
because that place has such a special place in my heart. I have so many great memories there, both of success and failure, and I think those memories are what have helped to shape me as a man.” Redick says his best memory from Cameron actually came a year after his senior season. On Feb. 4, 2007, his jersey No. 4 was retired by the university. Along with basketball memories from his days at Duke, Redick’s relationship with his head coach endures and seemingly grows stronger as time goes by. “I grew up a big Duke fan. I grew up a big Coach K fan,” Redick said. “So my four years I was honestly in awe of him every day. He was one of the people I looked up to growing up and I learned so much in my time (there). Growing up I never could have imagined I’d be 31 years old and be able to call Coach my friend. But over the last nine or 10 years we have developed a real deep friendship. We call each other to encourage each other, sometimes we have called each other to console each other. But he’s been a huge part of my life since I guess 2000 when I committed to Duke, and over the last 15 years we’ve become great friends.” “There was a bond that was developed here that was truly spectacular, where he had the ultimate green light and we did everything to put him in a position to be instinctively reactive to what was going on. And he took it to the highest level,” Krzyzewski said. “Since then we’ve continued to maintain a close relationship because that bond will never go away. The one sick feeling he has when he walks around here — and it shows the kind of competitor he is — is that he doesn’t have a national championship banner. When I’ve talked to him about that I’ve said, ‘It’s good that it eats at you, because that’s what makes you, but I wish you had one.’”
Compliance
Quiz
The Duke Compliance Office is responsible for education and enforcement of NCAA rules. NCAA rules are vast and complex, and we hope you read the information below as an introduction to a few of the issues that could arise as you root for the Blue Devils. If you have any questions about NCAA rules, please contact the Compliance Office at 919613-6214. We truly appreciate your continued support of Duke University and Duke Athletics. Always remember to ask before you act. Question: Benjamin Booster read that Patty Prospect was planning to take an official visit to Duke. Benjamin wants to make sure that Patty knows how much Duke loves her, so he makes a poster that says “Patty belongs at DUKE!” to hold up during the game. After the visit, he sends her a Facebook message encouraging her to attend Duke. Is this permissible? Answer: No. Putting a prospect’s name or picture on a poster is considered publicizing the recruitment of the prospect, which is not permissible due to NCAA rules. Recruiting contact — whether face-to-face or written — between a booster and a prospect is also prohibited.
Duke Compliance 919-613-6214 33
> The Final Round
Remembering Bill Foster and Duke’s return to prominence By Lewis Bowling Duke basketball was winning in a big way again. The Bill Foster-led Blue Devils had beaten Clemson and Maryland in the first two rounds of the 1978 ACC Tournament. Wake Forest stood in the way of Duke taking home its first ACC Tournament championship since 1966. But a 6-foot11 sophomore center out of Connecticut, known as G-man, played one of the best games ever turned in by a Duke player. Mike Gminski scored 25 points, pulled down 16 rebounds, had four assists, and blocked three shots as Duke took care of the Demon Deacons. The title completed a return to ACC prominence for a program that had finished last in the league for the first time ever in 1974, the year before Foster took over as head coach. Now in his fourth season, the Blue Devils were back on top and looking for more with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, their first visit in 12 years and Foster’s first as a head coach. He would guide Duke to two more NCAAs before ending his tenure in Durham in 1980, helping put in a place a solid foundation for what Duke basketball is today. Foster, the consummate program builder, passed away on Jan. 7, 2016, at the age of 86, long retired from a 30-year Division I coaching career that saw him win 467 games and guide four different schools to 20-win seasons. “I have so much respect for Coach Foster,” said former Blue Devil Jim Spanarkel, captain of the 1978 and 1979 teams. “He was a good man, a good friend, along with being such a successful coach. That 1978 Duke team was among the most important teams in Duke basketball history, as it got Duke basketball back on the map, so to speak. We were an extremely close team and we got along with each other so well.” After winning the ACC championship, the 1978 Blue Devils continued their postseason run by defeating Rhode Island in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, behind 25 points and 10 rebounds from Gminski. Penn fell in the second round as Spanarkel and Gene Banks scored 21 points apiece. Banks showed why he had been one of the most coveted recruits in the country by scoring 17 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and passing out nine assists in a win over Villanova to send Duke to the Final Four. Gminski, Spanarkel, and Banks combined for 71 points in a 9086 win over Notre Dame in a national semifinal game in front of over 18,000 fans at the Checkerdome in St. Louis. In the title game against top-ranked Kentucky, the Wildcats simply had too much Jack Givens, as the smooth lefty poured in 41 points to beat Duke 94-88. The coach who led this resurgence of Duke basketball had a 40-40 record in his first three seasons of trying to resurrect a program that had fallen on hard times since the 1960 glory years of Vic Bubas. But starting with that magical 1978 team, the Blue Devils would have consecutive records of 27-7, 22-8, and 24-9 in Foster’s last three seasons, with two ACC Tournament crowns, three NCAA bids and, in his final year, a march to the Elite Eight after a Sweet 16 upset win over Kentucky in Lexington. Foster departed for South Carolina following that 1980 campaign and Duke hired the little-known Army coach, Mike Krzyzewski, who has since won more games than any other Division I head coach in history while hanging five national championship banners in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Winning basketball games was a regular habit for Bill Foster, born in
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Ridley Park, Pa., in 1929. While teaching and coaching at high school in the 1950s in Pennsylvania, Foster developed a relationship with Harry Litwack, a longtime basketball coach at Temple University. For close to 25 years, Foster and Litwack operated a popular summer basketball camp in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. Foster was a college basketball head coach by the time he was 31 years old, leading Bloomsburg State to a record of 45-11 from 1961 to 1963. He was hired at Rutgers for the 1964 season and finished with an overall record of 120-75 in his eight seasons with the Scarlet Knights. He then headed to Utah, where he was 43-39 in three seasons. His last team in 1974 finished 22-8 and played for the NIT championship.
PHOTOS: DUKE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Foster Heydays at Duke
1978 27-7 1979 22-8 1980 24-9
In his six seasons at Duke his teams were 113-64. From 1981 to 1986 at South Carolina, the Gamecocks were 92-79. Foster was then hired at Northwestern, where he coached until 1993. This is the only school where he finished with an overall losing record, after becoming the first coach in Division I college basketball history to lead four schools to 20win seasons at his previous stops. After his coaching days ended, Foster was an associate commissioner of the now extinct Southwest Conference and also served on the Board of Trustees of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “Coach Foster was like a father to me,” said Gene Banks, a freshman star on the 1978 team. “He meant the world to me. He had a unique style, a unique humor and wit. “I will always remember Coach Foster coming up to see me play in a summer recreation game when I was the top-ranked high school player. I scored 30 points and had something like 20 rebounds, and after the game Coach Foster walked right by me without even looking at me or saying a word. I was baffled, because I was being recruited by the likes of Dean Smith, Bobby Knight and Gene Bartow at UCLA. After a day or two, I decided to give Coach Foster a call. I asked him why he had not even looked my way, and he told me that he didn’t think I was good enough to play at Duke, and then he hung up on me! “About an hour later one of Duke’s assistant coaches, Bob Wenzel, called me and told me that Coach Foster thought the world of me, but it was his way of getting my attention. It worked.” Banks also recalled a time when he wanted to get out of a practice session at Duke. “So I went to Coach Foster’s office,” Banks said, “and he was busy, as always, on the phone that day. He motioned to me to sit down while he finished his call. After hanging up, he reached behind his desk and placed a can of aerosol spray on his desk in front of me. The can had in big letters on it B.S. He sprayed the can in my direction, then said to me, ‘Tink (Banks had the nickname of Tinkerbell), now that I have cleared the air of any (B.S.), what can I do for you today?’ Needless to
ACC champ Final Four ACC reg season #1 NCAA ACC champ Elite Eight
say, I didn’t even bring up my thoughts of getting out of practice that day. “Another thing I will always remember was my sister passing away during my sophomore season at Duke. The funeral, in South Philly, was only attended by family members, but there was Coach Foster. Duke had a game that very night with N.C. State, but Coach Foster somehow came to my sister’s funeral and made it back to the game. “Coach Foster allowed me to spread my wings at Duke, to speak to the press and express myself,” Banks concluded. “He was such a positive influence on me, as a basketball player, as a man, as a father to my children, and in many other ways. My senior year was with Coach K, and I am lucky to have played under two good men.” Lou Goetz, one of Foster’s assistant coaches at Duke, had played for him at Rutgers and went on to become a head coach at Richmond. He recalled Foster’s many contributions to the sport, not just on the floor but in marketing and promotions and in conducting camps and clinics. “Coach Foster was an innovator in college basketball, and he had a large coaching tree, such as Jim Valvano playing for him at Rutgers,” Goetz said. “His presence and influence is still felt today and will be for many years to come. He allowed me, as an assistant coach at Duke, to fully participate in decisions and the freedom to express my ideas. He was a good coach, a good leader and just a good man that will be missed greatly.” “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Coach Bill Foster, who was such a vital part of this program’s rich history,” Coach K said of his predecessor. “His Blue Devil teams from the late 1970s were among the best to ever play at Duke. As accomplished as he was as a basketball coach, anyone who knew Bill would agree he had one of the uniquely exuberant personalities in the sport that he loved so much. His legacy will not only be the significant basketball contributions he made, but the millions of smiles he helped create along the way. We offer our sincerest sympathy to Bill’s family, friends and the many great student-athletes who came to Duke to play for such a terrific coach and person.”
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