Duke Blue Devils Men's Basketball

The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represents Duke University in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The team is fourth all-time in wins of any NCAA men's basketball program, and is currently coached by Jon Scheyer.

Duke has won 5 NCAA Championships (tied with Indiana for fourth all-time behind UCLA, Kentucky, and North Carolina) and appeared in 11 Championship Games (third all-time) and 17 Final Fours (Tied for third all-time with Kentucky and only behind North Carolina and UCLA). Additionally, all of Duke’s championships were won after the NCAA instituted a shot clock. Duke has an NCAA-best .755 NCAA tournament winning percentage. Eleven Duke players have been named the National Player of the Year, and 71 players have been selected in the NBA draft. Additionally, Duke has had 36 players named All-Americans (chosen 60 times) and 14 players named Academic All-Americans. Duke has been the Atlantic Coast Conference Champions a record 21 times, and also lays claim to 19 ACC regular season titles. Prior to joining the ACC, Duke won the Southern Conference championships five times. Duke has also finished the season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll seven times and is the all-time leader in total weeks ranked as the number one team in the nation by the AP with 135 weeks. Additionally, the Blue Devils have the third longest streak in the AP Top 25 in history with 200 consecutive appearances from 1996 to 2007, trailing only Kansas’s 231 consecutive polls from 2009 to 2021, and UCLA's 221 consecutive polls from 1966 to 1980.

Team history

Early years (1906–1953)

In 1906, Wilbur Wade Card, Trinity College's Athletic Director and a member of the Class of 1900, introduced the game of basketball to Trinity. The January 30 issue of The Trinity Chronicle headlined the new sport on its front page. Trinity's first game ended in a loss to Wake Forest, 24–10. The game was played in the Angier B. Duke Gymnasium, later known as The Ark. The Trinity team won its first title in 1920, the state championship, by beating the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (now NC State) 25 to 24. Earlier in the season they had beaten the University of North Carolina 19–18 in the first match-up between the two schools. Trinity college then became Duke University.

Billy Werber, Class of 1930, became Duke's first All-American in basketball. The Gothic-style West Campus opened that year, with a new gym, later to be named for Coach Card. The Indoor Stadium opened in 1940. Initially it was referred to as an "Addition" to the gymnasium. Part of its cost was paid for with the proceeds from the Duke football team's appearance in the 1938 Rose Bowl. In 1972 it would be named for Eddie Cameron, head coach from 1929 to 1942.

In 1952, Dick Groat became the first Duke player to be named National Player of the Year. Duke left the Southern Conference to become a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953. The Duke team under Vic Bubas made its first appearance in the Final Four in 1963, losing 94–75 to Loyola in the semifinal. The next year, Bubas' team reached the national title game, losing to the Bruins of UCLA, who claimed 10 titles in the next 12 years. Bob Verga was Duke's star player in 1967.

Bill Foster (1974–1980)

The basketball program won its 1000th game in 1974, making Duke only the eighth school in NCAA history to reach that figure. In a turnaround, Coach Bill Foster's 1978 Blue Devils, who had gone 2–10 in the ACC the previous year, won the conference tournament and went on to the NCAA championship game, where they fell to Kentucky. Gene Banks, Mike Gminski ('80) and Jim Spanarkel ('79) ran the floor.

Mike Krzyzewski (1980–2022)

Mike Krzyzewski was at Duke from 1980 to 2022.

:*5 National Championships – 2nd most all time, the last being in 2015
:*13 Final Fours as well as five in a row from 1988 to 1992, one more than John Wooden
:*17 Elite Eights
:*26 Sweet Sixteens and nine straight from 1998–2006
:*36 NCAA tournament berths
:*101 NCAA tournament wins (most ever)
:*14 No. 1 seeds
:*28 conference titles (13 regular season, 15 tournament), 10 of the 13 ACC Tournament Titles from 1998–99 through 2010–11
:*15 30-win seasons
:*36 20-win seasons
:*Number 1 AP ranking in 17 of the past 28 seasons
:*8 Naismith College Player of the Year Awards
:*9 National Defensive Players of the Year Awards
:*26 AP All-Americans
:*14 consensus first team All-Americans
:*11 NBA top-10 picks: T-1st
:*23 NBA Draft first round picks
:*1,202 career wins

Krzyzewski's teams made the Final Four in 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010, 2015 and 2022.

In Krzyzewski's first season, the Blue Devils would finish the season with a 17–13 overall record and 6–8 record in ACC play. The team would later play in the NIT tournament advancing to the quarterfinals. Despite having a good record the previous season, the Blue Devils would struggle during the next two seasons finishing with 10 wins in 1982 and 11 wins in 1983. The 1984 team, led by Tommy Amaker & Johnny Dawkins, would bounce back in strong fashion finishing 24–10 and was ranked the No.14 in the AP and Coaches poll, but lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament to the Washington Huskies (having earned a first-round bye).
In 1985 Duke defeated Pepperdine in the first round of the NCAA tournament, for Krzyzewski's first tounrament win, but lost to Boston College in the second round 74–73.

Duke upset the heavily favored UNLV Runnin' Rebels 79–77 in the Final Four in 1991, a rematch of the 1990 final in which Duke lost by 30 points. The team, led by Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, and Thomas Hill, went on to defeat Kansas 72–65 to win the university's first NCAA Championship. Ranked #1 all season and favored to repeat as national champions in 1992, Duke took part in a game "acclaimed by many sthe greatest college basketball game ever played," according to ESPN. In the Elite Eight, Duke met the Rick Pitino-led Kentucky Wildcats. It appeared Kentucky had sealed the win in overtime when guard Sean Woods hit a running shot off the glass in the lane to put Kentucky up by one with 2.1 seconds left on the clock. After a timeout, Duke's Grant Hill threw a full-court pass to Christian Laettner. Laettner took one dribble and nailed a turn-around jumper at the buzzer to send Duke into the Final Four with a 104–103 victory (The Shot). Duke went on to defeat sixth-seeded Michigan, led by the Fab Five as freshmen starters including Chris Webber, Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard, 71–51 to repeat as national champions. Following the successful repeat, Laettner was the only collegiate player to be chosen for the Dream Team that won Olympic gold in Barcelona, while Krzyzewski was an assistant coach under Chuck Daly of the Detroit Pistons in a precursor to his becoming Team USA coach in 2006 and coaching them to two gold medals.

They would later meet Kentucky for another classic regional final game, but blow a 17-point second half lead in losing to the Wildcats. The Blue Devils would lose the 1994 title game to Arkansas and their "Forty Minutes of Hell" defense. The next two seasons would see them fall to just 31–31, though they made the 1996 tournament with an 18–12 record, 8–8 in conference play. They would also fall in the 1999 title game, this time to Jim Calhoun and the UCONN Huskies. Duke defeated Arizona 82–72 to win its third NCAA Championship in 2001, becoming one of a handful of teams in NCAA Tournament history to defeat all of their tournament opponents by double digits. Krzyzewski was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame later that year. On April 5, 2010 Duke Men's Basketball won their fourth NCAA Championship by defeating Butler 61–59. On April 6, 2015 Duke's Men's Basketball won their fifth NCAA Championship by defeating Wisconsin 68–63.

Coach K announced that the 2021–22 season would be his last coaching for Duke. Making it to the Final Four one last time, Duke fell just short of the championship game losing to the North Carolina Tar Heels 81–77 in the first ever meeting between the rivals in the NCAA Tournament.

Jon Scheyer (2022–present)

On June 2, 2022, Scheyer was named as the new head coach at Duke following Krzyzewski's retirement.

Former Duke stars such as Jim Spanarkel, Gene Banks, Alaa Abdelnaby, Johnny Dawkins, Cherokee Parks, Bobby Hurley, Antonio Lang, Roshown McLeod, William Avery, Trajan Langdon, Grant Hill, Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, Kenny Dennard, Brian Davis, Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Chris Duhon, Mike Dunleavy, Dahntay Jones, Daniel Ewing, JJ Redick, Shavlik Randolph, Shelden Williams, Corey Maggette, Luol Deng, Josh McRoberts, Gerald Henderson, Andre Dawkins, Austin Rivers, Lance Thomas, Kyle Singler, Miles Plumlee, Mason Plumlee, Marshall Plumlee, Bob Verga, Quinn Cook, Nolan Smith, Jason Williams, Jabari Parker, Rodney Hood, Seth Curry, Kyrie Irving, Matt Jones, Amile Jefferson, Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow, Grayson Allen, Brandon Ingram, Luke Kennard, Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles, Frank Jackson, Gary Trent Jr., Trevon Duval, Marvin Bagley III, Wendell Carter Jr., RJ Barrett, Marques Bolden, Cam Reddish, Zion Williamson, Tre Jones, Vernon Carey Jr., Cassius Stanley, and AJ Griffin have gone on to play in the NBA.

Many of Krzyzewski's assistants and former players, such as Tommy Amaker (Seton Hall, University of Michigan and Harvard), Bob Bender (Illinois State University and University of Washington), Chuck Swenson at William & Mary, Mike Brey (Delaware and Notre Dame), Jeff Capel ( VCU, Oklahoma and Pittsburgh), Chris Collins ( Northwestern), Johnny Dawkins (Stanford, UCF), Quin Snyder (Missouri, Utah Jazz), and Steve Wojciechowski ( Marquette) have become head basketball coaches at major universities and the NBA, while Pete Gaudet is now the head coach of the India women's national basketball team.

Team captains

*Danny Ferry
*Christian Laettner
*Bobby Hurley
* Grant Hill
* Greg Newton
* Shane Battier
*Carlos Boozer
*Mike Dunleavy Jr
*JJ Redick
*Shelden Williams
*Rodney Hood
* Josh Hairston
* Tyler Thornton
*Quinn Cook
*Amile Jefferson
*Grayson Allen
* Matt Jones
* Javin Delaurier
*Jack White
* Tre Jones
*Wendell Moore Jr.
* Jeremy Roach

Results by season (1980–2022)

NCAA Tournament seeding history

''The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1978 edition.''

National championships

Final Four history

Complete NCAA tournament results

The Blue Devils have appeared in the NCAA tournament 44 times. Their combined record is 114–39.

NIT results

The Blue Devils have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) five times. Their combined record is 5–6.

Key statistics

As of the 2017–18 season, the Blue Devils' program record is as follows.

Duke has been ranked as the #1 team in the nation 235 weeks in their history.

Duke had not lost a non-conference game at Cameron from 2000 until 2019, when SFASU beat Duke in overtime (85–83). Duke maintains a tradition of hosting the previous season's Division II national champion in an exhibition game each November.

Cameron Indoor Stadium & Fanbase

Cameron Indoor Stadium was completed on January 6, 1940, having cost $400,000. At the time, it was the largest gymnasium in the country south of the Palestra at the University of Pennsylvania. Originally called Duke Indoor Stadium, it was renamed for Coach Cameron on January 22, 1972. The building originally included seating for 8,800, though standing room was sufficient to ensure that 12,000 could fit in on a particularly busy day. Then, as now, Duke students were allowed a large chunk of the seats, including those directly alongside the court. Renovations in 1987–1988 removed the standing room areas and added seats, bringing capacity to 9,314.

Cameron Crazies

Duke's men's basketball teams have had a decided home-court advantage for many years, thanks to the diehard students known as the Cameron Crazies. The hardwood floor has been dedicated and renamed ''Coach K Court'' in honor of head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and the tent city outside Cameron where students camp out before big games is known as Krzyzewskiville. In 1999, ''Sports Illustrated'' ranked Cameron the fourth best venue in all of professional and college sports, and ''USA Today'' referred to it as "the toughest road game in the nation".

Criticism

Despite being one of the most successful programs in college basketball, many fans of other college teams have come to dislike Duke.

Player awards

Retired numbers

National Players of the Year

*Dick Groat ''Helms, UPI''
*Art Heyman ''AP, UPI, U.S. Basketball Writers''
*Johnny Dawkins ''Naismith''
*Danny Ferry ''Naismith, UPI, U.S. Basketball Writers''
*Christian Laettner ''AP, Basketball Times, NABC, Naismith, Rupp, U.S. Basketball Writers, Wooden''
*Elton Brand ''AP, NABC, Naismith, Rupp, U.S. Basketball Writers, Wooden, Sporting News''
* Shane Battier ''AP, Basketball Times, Naismith, Rupp, U.S. Basketball Writers, Wooden, Sporting News''
* Jason Williams ''AP, Basketball Times, NABC (2), Naismith, Rupp, U.S. Basketball Writers, Wooden, Sporting News''
*JJ Redick ''AP, Basketball Times, NABC, Naismith, Rupp (2), U.S. Basketball Writers, Wooden, Sporting News''
*Zion Williamson ''AP, NABC, Naismith, Sporting News, U.S. Basketball Writers, Wooden''

ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year

*Art Heyman (1963)
* Jeff Mullins (1964)
* Steve Vacendak (1966)
*Mike Gminski (1979)
*Danny Ferry (1988, 1989)
*Christian Laettner (1992)
* Grant Hill (1994)
*Elton Brand (1999)
* Chris Carrawell (2000)
* Shane Battier (2001)
*JJ Redick (2005, 2006)
*Nolan Smith (2011)
*Jahlil Okafor (2015)
*Marvin Bagley III (2018)
*Zion Williamson (2019)
* Tre Jones (2020)

ACC

Rookies of the Year

*Jim Spanarkel (1976)
*Mike Gminski (1977)
*Gene Banks (1978)
*Chris Duhon (2001)
*Kyle Singler (2008)
*Austin Rivers (2012)
*Jabari Parker (2014)
*Jahlil Okafor (2015)
*Brandon Ingram (2016)
*Marvin Bagley III (2018)
*Zion Williamson (2019)
*Vernon Carey Jr. (2020)

*Paolo Banchero (2022)

National Defensive Player of the Year

* Billy King (1986)
*Tommy Amaker (1987)
* Grant Hill (1993)
* Steve Wojciechowski (1998)
* Shane Battier (1999, 2000, 2001)
*Shelden Williams (2005, 2006)

ACC Defensive Player of the Year

''(since 2005)''
*Shelden Williams (2005, 2006)
*DeMarcus Nelson (2008)
* Tre Jones (2020)
* Mark Williams (2022)

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

*Mike Krzyzewski (2001)
* Grant Hill (2018)

McDonald's All-Americans

The following 78 McDonald's All-Americans have signed and played for Duke.



*1977 – Gene Banks
*1978 – Vince Taylor
*1982 – Johnny Dawkins
*1983 – Tommy Amaker & Martin Nessley
*1985 – Danny Ferry & Quin Snyder
*1986 – Alaa Abdelnaby & Phil Henderson
*1988 – Christian Laettner & Crawford Palmer
*1989 – Bobby Hurley & Billy McCaffrey
*1990 – Grant Hill
*1991 – Cherokee Parks
*1992 – Chris Collins
*1993 – Joey Beard
*1994 – Trajan Langdon, Ricky Price & Steve Wojciechowski
*1995 – Taymon Domzalski
*1996 – Nate James
*1997 – Elton Brand, Shane Battier & Chris Burgess
*1998 – Corey Maggette
*1999 – Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Casey Sanders & Jay Williams
*2000 – Chris Duhon
*2001 – Daniel Ewing
*2002 – Sean Dockery, JJ Redick, Shavlik Randolph & Michael Thompson
*2003 – Luol Deng
*2004 – DeMarcus Nelson
*2005 – Eric Boateng, Greg Paulus & Josh McRoberts
*2006 – Gerald Henderson Jr., Jon Scheyer & Lance Thomas
*2007 – Taylor King, Kyle Singler & Nolan Smith
*2008 – Elliot Williams
*2009 – Ryan Kelly & Mason Plumlee
*2010 – Kyrie Irving
*2011 – Quinn Cook, Marshall Plumlee & Austin Rivers
*2012 – Amile Jefferson & Rasheed Sulaimon
*2013 – Matt Jones & Jabari Parker
*2014 – Grayson Allen, Tyus Jones, Jahlil Okafor & Justise Winslow
*2015 – Brandon Ingram, Chase Jeter & Luke Kennard
*2016 – Marques Bolden, Frank Jackson & Jayson Tatum
*2017 – Wendell Carter Jr., Trevon Duval & Gary Trent Jr.
*2018 – RJ Barrett, Tre Jones, Cam Reddish & Zion Williamson
*2019 – Vernon Carey Jr., Matthew Hurt & Wendell Moore Jr.
*2020 – Jeremy Roach, DJ Steward, Mark Williams
*2021 – Paolo Banchero & AJ Griffin

Current Blue Devils in the NBA

As of December 20, 2022, these former Blue Devils players were in the NBA:

*Semi Ojeleye (did not finish college career at Duke; transferred to SMU) – Los Angeles Clippers
*Kyrie Irving (2011) – Brooklyn Nets
*Austin Rivers (2012) – Minnesota Timberwolves
*Seth Curry (2013) – Brooklyn Nets
*Mason Plumlee (2013) – Charlotte Hornets
*Rodney Hood (2014) – free agent
*Jabari Parker (2014) – free agent
*Tyus Jones (2015) – Memphis Grizzlies
*Justise Winslow (2015) – Portland Trail Blazers
*Brandon Ingram (2016) – New Orleans Pelicans
* Harry Giles (2017) – free agent
* Frank Jackson (2017) – Salt Lake City Stars (G-League)
* Luke Kennard (2017) – Los Angeles Clippers
*Jayson Tatum (2017) – Boston Celtics
*Grayson Allen (2018) – Milwaukee Bucks
*Marvin Bagley III (2018) – Detroit Pistons
*Wendell Carter Jr. (2018) – Orlando Magic
* Gary Trent Jr. (2018) – Toronto Raptors
*RJ Barrett (2019) – New York Knicks
*Cam Reddish (2019) – New York Knicks
*Zion Williamson (2019) – New Orleans Pelicans
* Marques Bolden (2019) – Salt Lake City Stars (G-League)
*Vernon Carey Jr. (2020) – Washington Wizards
* Tre Jones (2020) – San Antonio Spurs
*Cassius Stanley (2020) – Motor City Cruise (G-League)
*Jack White (basketball) (2020) – Denver Nuggets
*Jalen Johnson (2021) – Atlanta Hawks
* DJ Steward (2021) – Stockton Kings (G-League)
*Paolo Banchero (2022) – Orlando Magic
*Mark Williams (basketball) (2022) – Charlotte Hornets
*AJ Griffin (2022) – Atlanta Hawks
*Wendell Moore Jr. (2022) – Minnesota Timberwolves
*Trevor Keels (2022) – New York Knicks

Rivalries

The Duke–North Carolina rivalry is often ranked among the top rivalries in both college basketball and all North American sports. The Duke Blue Devils face the North Carolina Tar Heels twice each year during ACC play, with thousands of Duke undergraduate students participating in an annual tradition of camping out in Krzyzewskiville, a lawn in front of Cameron Indoor Stadium, for months to line up for admission into the rivalry game. The two teams always face each other for their last game of the regular season, with the home team hosting their Senior Night. Some years, the two teams meet for a third game in the ACC tournament. In 2022, the two schools met in the Final Four to face each other in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. In that game, the Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils 81–77.

The two programs have combined for 11 national championships, with North Carolina leading Duke 6–5. The intensity of the rivalry is augmented by the proximity of the two universities, located only ten miles apart along U.S. Highway 15–501 (also known as Tobacco Road) or eight miles apart in straight-line distance in the cities of Durham and Chapel Hill. In addition, Duke is a private university whereas North Carolina is a public school; the vastly different funding structures and cultures between the two further contribute to the intensity of the rivalry.

Former ''Esquire'' editor and author (and North Carolina graduate) Will Blythe argues that the rivalry's passion can be attributed greatly to class and culture in the South.

The rivalry has been the subject of various books and articles, including ''To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever'' by Blythe and ''Blue Blood'' by Art Chansky.

Further illustrating the intensity of the rivalry, U.S. Representative Brad Miller, a die-hard Carolina fan, told an Associated Press writer in 2012, "I have said very publicly that if Duke was playing against the Taliban, then I'd have to pull for the Taliban."

However, also due to the close proximity of the two schools, there is respect and collaboration within the rivalry. Inspired by the men's basketball teams, twenty-four students from the two schools got together from January 14–16, 2006 in order to attempt to break the world record for the longest continuous game of basketball ever recorded. The game set a new world record at 57 hours, 17 minutes and 41 seconds with Duke winning the game 3699–3444. All $60,000 raised from the marathon benefited the Hoop Dreams Basketball Academy, an organization which helps children with life-threatening illnesses develop successful life skills through basketball.

Beyond athletics, the school papers have also engaged in the rivalry. As a tradition, one day prior to a Duke-Carolina basketball game, '' The Chronicle'', Duke's student newspaper, publishes a spoof cover page for the day's edition with the title ''The Daily Tar Hole''. Contained within are satirical stories poking fun at ''The Daily Tar Heel'' and the North Carolina Tar Heels. ''The Daily Tar Heel'' typically publishes former columnist Ian Williams' "Insider's guide to hating Duke" for the two basketball match-ups each year. There is a longstanding agreement that if Duke wins the first matchup, ''The Daily Tar Heel''s masthead is printed in Duke blue, and if Carolina wins the first matchup, ''The Chronicle''s masthead is painted Carolina blue. The losing school's paper also has to put the other school's logo in a conspicuous location and claim that the winning school is "still the best."

The Michigan Wolverines and the Maryland Terrapins basketball teams have also claimed rivalries against the Blue Devils, but Duke has long rejected both claims and considers North Carolina to be its only rival.Anya Sostek
Duke-Maryland `rivalry' means much more to Terps fans
''The Chronicle'', January 11, 2000.

See also

* Coach K
* Cameron Indoor Stadium
* Krzyzewskiville
* Cameron Crazies
* Duke Blue Devils
* Atlantic Coast Conference
* Carolina–Duke rivalry
* Duke Blue Devils women's basketball

Footnotes

References

External links

*

{{Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball navbox

Basketball teams established in 1905
1905 establishments in North Carolina