The 2000–01 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University during the

2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 8, 2000, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on April ...

, and were coached by 21st-year head coach

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five nati ...

. Duke won the 2001 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and defeated Monmouth,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, USC,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

to win their third national championship in Duke's history, under the leadership of All-American duo Shane Battier and Jason "Jay" Williams.

Roster

Expectations

Shane Battier entered his senior season as the remaining member of Duke's heralded recruiting class of 1997 which included

Elton Brand Elton Tyron Brand (born March 11, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player and the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball for Duke, he was selecte ...

and William Avery and had nearly led Duke to a championship two years earlier. (Brand and Avery, along with

Corey Maggette Corey Antoine Maggette (; born November 12, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He became an analyst for Fox Sports. High school and college career Magget ...

would become the first Duke underclassmen to leave early for the

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

that year.) Despite losing the reigning ACC Player of the Year Chris Carrawell to graduation, the Blue Devils still retained sophomores Jason Williams,

Mike Dunleavy, Jr. Michael Joseph Dunleavy Jr. (born September 15, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who is the vice president of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previou ...

, and

Carlos Boozer Carlos Austin Boozer Jr. (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. The two-time NBA All-Star played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers, and then spent his last seas ...

and welcomed the addition of freshman

Chris Duhon Christopher Nicholas Duhon (born August 31, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Duhon was a point guard for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team from 2000 to 2004. He then played for the Chicago Bulls, New York Kni ...

to their lineup.

Regular season

On January 27, 2001, the #2 Duke Blue Devils played at #8

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

in what would become the first of four contests between these two ACC powerhouses. With Duke trailing by 10 points, with 54 seconds left in regulation, Williams scored eight points. These points included two 3 pointers in a 13 second span. James hit two free throws to send this game into overtime. In overtime, Battier blocked a layup by

Juan Dixon Juan Dixon (born October 9, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player and the current head coach for Coppin State University in Baltimore. Dixon led the University of Maryland Terrapins to their first NCAA championship in 2002 a ...

at the baseline with 4 seconds left to preserve a 98 to 96 victory. However, the Blue Devils stumbled in the next game at home against their rival, 4th ranked

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

by a score of 85 to 83. A month later, Maryland would avenge their home loss to Duke when the No. 16 Terrapins defeated the No. 2 Blue Devils 91 to 80 on Shane Battier's Senior Night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. After center Carlos Boozer had to leave with a foot injury in that game, Coach Krzyzewski decided to change his strategy, favoring a smaller, quicker lineup by having Duhon start at point guard and moving Williams over to shooting guard. His plan was successful in Duke's next game at North Carolina, when Duke defeated the No. 4 Tar Heels 95 to 81 to claim a share of the regular season championship. The Blue Devils went on to win 6 of its games following Boozer's injury. Then Boozer rejoined the team in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

Conference tournament

Duke finished the regular season with a 26–4 record entering the ACC tournament as a No. 2 seed. In the tournament semifinals, they met Maryland for the third time this season. In another thrilling contest, after Maryland had rallied from a 14 point, second-half deficit, the Blue Devils defeated the Terrapins 84 to 82 when

Nate James Nathaniel James Speas, known as Nate James, (born 15 September 1979 in Lakenheath, Suffolk, England) is an English singer-songwriter. James released his debut soul album '' Set the Tone'' in 2005 which won him two MOBO Nominations for Best Newc ...

tipped in the game-winner with 1.3 seconds left to advance to the title game against North Carolina. In the third game between Duke and UNC that season, the Blue Devils emerged victorious as ACC tournament champions by the score of 79 to 53 and received a No. 1 seed in the East Regional of the NCAA tournament.

NCAA tournament

The Blue Devils would travel the same path they took nine years ago when they claimed their last championship in 1992, from

Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, where they met Maryland for the fourth time that season, this time in the Final Four with a berth in the championship game at stake. Finding themselves down 17 to 39 with 6:57 to play in the first half and down 38 to 49 at Halftime, Duke went on to stage a comeback against the Terrapins and win 95–84 to advance to the championship game. Duke's 22-point deficit and 11-point Halftime deficit marked the largest comeback in Final Four history. Facing fifth-ranked

led by

Gilbert Arenas Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr. (; born January 6, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Arenas attended Grant High School in the Valley Glen district of Los Angeles, and accepted a scholarship offer to the University of Arizona lat ...

and

Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on ESPN. He played college basketball with the Arizona Wildcats. Jefferson was drafted in the first round of the 20 ...

and coached by

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head c ...

, who had lost his wife to cancer earlier during the season, Duke was able to stave off a comeback attempt in the second half and clinch the title by a final score of 82–72. With his third national championship, coach Mike Krzyzewski tied his mentor Bob Knight for third place behind

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...

(4) and John Wooden (10). Battier was named the

NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships (the "Final Four" tournaments), a media panel selects a Most Outstanding Player (MOP). It is usually awarded to a member of the championship team. There have been ...

2000–01 schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, ACC tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a week 2 poll

Accomplishments

*3rd national championship in school history (1991, 1992, 2001) *2nd appearance in national championship game in three years (1999, 2001) *3rd straight No. 1-ranking in final regular season AP poll, and 1st No. 1-ranked team to win the national championship since UCLA in 1995. *Duke set an NCAA record by winning its 133rd game over a four-year period. The Blue Devils (133–15) broke the record set by

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

from 1995–96 and 1998–99. *Duke is the first team to be seeded No. 1 over four consecutive seasons since the NCAA began seeding teams in 1979. *Duke swept all the major National Player of the Year Awards: **Jason Williams was named the NABC Player of the Year. **Shane Battier claimed the AP National Player of the Year,

Oscar Robertson Trophy The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out annually to the outstanding men's college basketball player by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). The trophy is considered to be the oldest of its kind and has been given out since 195 ...

Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

Naismith Award Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of t ...

, and

Adolph Rupp Trophy The Adolph F. Rupp Trophy was an award given annually to the top player in men's Division I NCAA basketball until 2015. The recipient of the award was selected by an independent panel consisting of national sportswriters, coaches, and sports admi ...

awards. *Shane Battier won the

NABC Defensive Player of the Year The NABC Defensive Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to recognize the top defensive player in United States college basketball. The award has been given since 1987 and was previously kn ...

award for the third straight time. *Shane Battier tied an NCAA record for victories (131) for a four-year period set by Kentucky's Wayne Turner. *Jason Williams set a Duke single-season scoring record with 841 points, previously held by

Dick Groat Richard Morrow Groat (born November 4, 1930) is a former professional baseball and basketball player who was an eight-time All-Star shortstop and two-time World Series champion in Major League Baseball. He rates as one of the most accomplished t ...

(831) in 1951. *Shane Battier and Jason Williams were consensus All-American First Team selections. *Shane Battier was an

Academic All-American The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are giv ...

First Team selection for the 2nd straight year. *Three players received All-ACC honors: **Shane Battier, Jason Williams (1st Team) **Nate James (3rd Team) *Two players from the 2001 squad (Battier and Jason Williams) had their jerseys retired by Duke. *Duke set records with the most three-pointers made (407) and attempted (1,057) in a single season by a college basketball team.

References

External links

Duke Blue Devils Basketball Statistical Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:2000-01 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

Duke Blue Devils men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...