Coach K’s responsible for the biggest highlights, but Duke’s hoops tradition started with Eddie Cameron. His name happens to be on the arena, probably the toughest NCAA venue for opponents to play.
In 14 seasons, Cameron’s Devils won 226 games, claimed Southern Conference championships twice and three tourney titles. Because of that success, the school built their indoor stadium in 1940, which was the largest basketball arena south of Philly’s Palestra.
Duke had more success under Gerry Gerrard in the ‘40s and Harold Bradley in the ‘50s (conference titles were won and there were no losing records), but the occasional .500 mark popped up, while North Carolina and North Carolina State emerged as the region’s national powers. Dick Groat was a sensational player, but he couldn’t do it all for Duke.
That changed in 1959 when Vic Bubas arrived in Durham. He ushered in the first truly great era for the Devils, winning the ACC tournament in 1960, his first season.
More importantly, Bubas recruited Art Heyman, which opened the doors for Duke’s national recruiting. Heyman, with his non-stop motor, is still regarded as one of the Devils’ all-time greats. A ferocious rebounder and determined scorer, the New York native bulled Duke into the national spotlight.
Kick-starting the local rivalry with UNC into a national one helped, too.
Both Duke and UNC were ranked in the top five when they met in the 1961 season. Both had sparkling records and both had designs on the ACC crown. Duke won the game, but it ended with brawl, which served to fan the flames of what’s become sport’s greatest rivalry.
The rivalry has seen other highlights and lowlights through the years, but there’s little doubt both teams’ success and the rivalry’s intensity has only served to raise both program’s profiles. The immediate aftermath of the brawl seemed to have Duke come out on top, though.
The Devils reached three Final Fours in four years from 1963-66, and reaching were in the '64 title game. That’s a run only accomplished only by Kentucky, Cincinnati, Ohio State and San Francisco until then. Yet Bubas was done by ’69, worn out by the job's demands.
That brought on the mediocre seasons. Duke hovered around or below .500 for six seasons until Bill Foster’s 1977-78 squad emerged as a surprise contender and reinvigorated the program.
The Devils lost to Kentucky in the NCAA title game that season, and had a taste of success it never wanted to lose again. When Foster left for South Carolina in 1980, it opened the door for the Coach K. Things haven’t been the same since.
Sure, things started slow (a 17-13 season to begin, followed by two losing seasons didn’t ease the boosters’ concerns), but the Devils were back in the Big Dance by ’84, and by ’85 they finally ended a brutal losing streak to North Carolina.
The next season showcased Coach K’s first great team. That 37-3 squad had a star player (Johnny Dawkins), steady point guard (Tommy Amaker) and solid big men (Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas and Danny Ferry) who won swept the ACC regular-season and tourney titles and came up just short of the school’s first NCAA title.
Since then, Duke has had dominant teams, but that group established the Devils as a perennial contender. It also began a Final Four run not seen since the days of John Wooden’s Bruins.
From 1986 to 1992, Duke played in six of college hoops’ final weekends seven weekendstimes. It was like clockwork: when the Big Dance began, Duke, behind all-around stars like Ferry, would be in the Final Four.
Slowly, the hate began to build. Winning does that. Naysayers talked about the Devils coming up short, especially after losing the 1990 title game to UNLV by a record 30 points.
Then, just like that, Duke silenced everyone. It beat UNLV in the ’91 Final Four – perhaps the most significant win of the last 20 years – and repeated as champs in 1992.
Along the way, the Devils played in one of college basketball’s most memorable games, the ’92 East Regional final against Kentucky, that featured the best finish anyone had ever seen. People hated the Devils even more – especially Laettner – but it didn’t stop their success.
They developed more stars in Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill, and reached another title game in 1994. Coach K was on top of the coaching profession, and rightfully so. This was success in the modern game unlike any program had seen.
The slight dip didn't seem possibly, but maybe it couldn't be helped. How does one stay so good for so long?
In the 1994-95 season, Krzyzewski never recovered from offseason back surgery and was forced to sit out midway through the year. As a result, Duke finished 12-18 and missed the Big Dance. The Duke haters loved it.
It didn’t last, though.
After a season of rebuilding, the Devils grabbed a No. 2 seed in the ’97 tournament, then assumed their place as a No. 1 seed for the next five years. It sparked more talk of Duke bias -- another 1 seed? -- but the Devils’ record reflected just how good they were each season (133-15 from '98 to '01, better than any team in NCAA history).
By 1999, Duke was taking a shot at the greatest single-season anyone had ever seen. People wondered if anyone could anyone beat a 37-1 team with multiple lottery picks on the roster. (The short answer: Yes.)
It didn’t matter. Two years later, Coach K won his third title. The Devils reached the Final Four again in 2004, and have been an annual contender ever since. No more dips, just consistently great teams.
What happens now?
Well, Krzyzewski won his 800th career game last season. He turned 61 in February, which gives him at least another four years of coaching, though he’ll stop whenever he chooses. (He just guided Team USA to a gold medal, so there’s another feature in his cap.) In a few years, he’ll break Bobby Knight’s all-time wins record and, if he wants to, hit 1,000 career victories sometime around 2015.
And he’ll leave Duke cemented as one of the truly great programs in college hoops.
Coming next Tuesday, No. 4 on the list of greatest programs.
No. 6, Indiana.
No. 7, Louisville.
No. 8, Arizona.
No. 9, Syracuse.
No. 10, Connecticut.
No. 11, Cincinnati.
No. 12, Utah.
No. 13: Villanova.
No. 14: Illinois.
No. 15: Michigan State.
No. 16: Georgetown.
No. 17: Arkansas.
No. 18: Ohio State.
No. 19: St. John's.
No. 20: UNLV.
No. 21: Texas.
No. 22: Notre Dame.
No. 23: Temple.
No. 24: Oklahoma.
No. 25: N.C. State.
