Blue Devil Basketball Past

A top tier basketball program for many years. A team ranked as the fourth best all-time for wins. 4 national titles & 15 visits to the coveted NCAA Tournament. To show their basketball prowess, they have claimed 9 Player of the Year honors.

Duke has also have quite a few players drafted in the NBA. A total of 71 to be exact. This places them at the top of college basketball for former college players on NBA rosters. Can you believe that any school in today’s times would have the same head coach for 3 decades?

They have won 19 regular season ACC championships. And, not to be outdone, 18 ACC tournament championships as well. Duke is ranked #2 all time for being ranked as the #1 team only trailing UCLA in that category.

Can you believe a total of 55 college All-Americans in the history? A school known for bringing in smart kids also has 14 prior Academic All-Americans which shouldn’t surprise. Out of the 30 years under Mike Krzyewski, they have been to the NCAA tournament 26 of those seasons. Out of those 26 seasons, a total of 19 visits to the Sweet Sixteen as well.

Duke has been a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament a whopping eleven times. Winning 30 or more games a total of eleven different times. Out of 1,015 games under Krzyewski, the won a whopping 795 of them. Only losing a grand total of 220 of those games games played. Under his reign, Duke has claimed a national title about once of every 7.5 years including the most recent 2010 campaign.

Star Basketball Alumni

Duke has passed through some very talented basketball players. A total of 9 previous players that have received National Player of the Year honors. From a 1952 point guard to a 3-pt specialist in 2005. Dick Groat claimed the first Player of the Year award for Duke nearly 60 years ago. Eleven years later, Art Heyman claimed the honors.

Johnny Dawkins waited 23 more years before giving Duke another Player of the Year. It was only three years later before Danny Ferry staked claim to the next one. Another three years & Christian Laettner was named to this title. 7 more years followed before Elton Brand said let me have it. Only two years passed before Shane Battier won the award. The very next season Jason(Jay) Williams, a teammate of Battier, claimed the honors. Five years ago a 3-pt bomber in J.J. Redick won the award.

Danny Ferry & Christian Laettner are the most well recognized on the lists. Ferry holds the Duke record for most points(58) scored in a game. Ferry ranks in the top 5 in a couple statistical categories in Duke history. One is points scored & the other is in rebounds.

Laettner has a special place in history. He knocked down a buzzer-beating jumper against the Kentucky Wildcats in the 1992 NCAA Tournament. Laettner is an NCAA tournament record holder in numerous categories. He has a total of 407 points. He has 142 FT’s made. He has 167 FT’s attempted. He has played in a total of 23 tournament games. He is also the all-time Duke leader in three-point percentage. He appeared in the Final Four during all of his seasons at Duke & was a starter in all four of those too.

Author Bio: Ivan Jamison is a big sports fan. You can check out his Duke Blue Devils Watch or his Michigan Wolverines Watch or his Missouri Tigers Watch

Category: Sports
Keywords: Duke Blue Devils