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The Independent Daily at Duke University CHAMPIONSHIP COMMEMORATIVE EDITION
DUKE
2015 National Champions
2 | FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015
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sportsstaff Editor: Nick Martin Editor-elect: Ryan Hoerger Blog Editor: Amrith Ramkumar Photo Editor: Brianna Siracuse Senior Editors: Daniel Carp, Bobby Colton, Matt Pun Associate Editors: Zac Elder, Delaney King, Vaishnavi Krishnan, Brian Mazur, Ryan Neu, Brian Pollack, Michael Schreiner, Ali Wells Staff Writers: Alex Albert, Ethan Andrzejewski, Cassie Calvert, Meredith Cash, Shane Cashin, Philip Coons, Jack Dolgin, Taseen Haque, Seth Johnson, Jackson Korman, Scott Lee, Sameer Pandhare, Carson Pate, Sammy Solomon, Jackson Steger, Sam Turken, Gen Vallado, Jacob Weiss Special thanks to: Towerview Photo Editor Elysia Su, entire Chronicle Photo Department, Editor-in-Chief Carleigh Stiehm, General Manager Chrissy Beck Cover photo by Brianna Siracuse
FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015 | 3
What’s inside
4
THE TURNING POINT
7
COVERINGTHE CHAMPS
13
8
UNBEATEN NO MORE
14
9
ONE FOR THE AGES
16
Duke snapped a two-game losing streak on the road at Louisville to start its run
A look back at our best covers and Sportswraps of the season
Fresh off a loss to Notre Dame, Duke went to Virginia and handed the Cavs their first loss
Behind a nine-point explosion by Tyus Jones, Duke upended its Tobacco Road rival in OT
FIVE GOLDEN RINGS
10-11
The Blue Devils outlasted Wisconsin to take home their fifth national title
CAMPUS GOES CRAZY
Students took to Cameron and then burned benches when Duke won the title
NO EXCUSES SIR
Washington Post columnist John Feinstein goes behindthe-scenes on Coach K’s drive
JUST A REMINDER
Columnist Daniel Carp on why this season’s end did not dictate this team’s success Elysia Su | The Chronicle
DUKE PERFORM A N C ES* I N D U R H A M , AT D U K E , E X P EC T T H E E X T R AO R D I N A RY
CONGRATULATIONS!!! DUKE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2015 NCAA CHAMPIONS
*NOT
E X C L U D I N G A M O S T S U P E R B F I F T H N AT I O N A L C H A M P I O N S H I P
4 | FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015
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Men’s Basketball
Duke breaks two-game skid, shuts down Louisville Ryan Hoerger Beat Writer LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Blue Devil defense got back to its winning form Saturday—by completely switching things up. Employing a 2-3 zone for much of the contest, No. 4 Duke broke its two-game losing streak with a 63-52 win against No. 6 Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center. A new-look defense kept the Cardinals offbalance all afternoon, and the Blue Devil starting frontcourt of Jahlil Okafor and Amile Jefferson combined for 37 points to power the team to a much-needed victory. Duke—a program that has very rarely deviated from man-to-man defense under head coach Mike Krzyzewski—did so Saturday, using a zone to avoid facing ball-screen situations against Cardinal speedsters Terry Rozier and Chris Jones. The decision paid off, as Louisville shot 29.5 percent, going more than five minutes without scoring in the first half as Duke surged ahead by double-digits. “We thought this would be a good game for [the zone]. We needed something new,” Jefferson said. “Guys adapted to it really well.... It helped us to not have to chase them all the way out there [in man-to-man] because they have really good guards.” Duke’s decision to eliminate dribble penetration opportunities with the zone
Eric Lin | Chronicle File Photo Rookie center Jahlil Okafor poured in 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting as the Blue Devils snapped a two-game losing streak and took down the then-No. 6 Cardinals on the road.
forced the Cardinals (15-3, 3-2 in the ACC) to knock down outside shots in order to stay close, but perimeter success proved to be elusive. Louisville went 4-of-25 from beyond the arc—1-of-18 without Rozier’s three treys. Head coach Rick Pitino has seen his team struggle mightily from downtown all year—Saturday was just the Cardinals’ fourth-worst 3-point clip this season—and
with Rozier and Jones unable to create in the paint, Louisville couldn’t keep up. “Zone is a smart move because it takes away from Okafor having to come out [against ball-screens],” Pitino said, adding that he would have made the same switch after Miami’s ball-screens gave Duke fits Tuesday. “We are a little offensively challenged from the perimeter, so we’ve got to be meticulous with our paint
touches.... Not until the second half did we get what really hurts the zone, and that’s paint touches.” In a crowded frontcourt that included Preseason AP All-Americans Jahlil Okafor and Montrezl Harrell, it was Jefferson who rose to the occasion in the first half for the Blue Devils (15-2, 3-2). The Philadelphia native poured in 10 of his career-high 19 points and grabbed six rebounds, finding open holes in the Cardinals’ matchup zone. After scoring four points in Duke’s first three ACC games, Jefferson wanted to set the tone early for his team. The captain did so by going strong to the rim, at one point going straight at a Louisville defender for a would-be dunk. Jefferson drew the whistle as the ball hit the rim and launched 25 feet into the air—a new level of aggressiveness for the junior, who generally scores in back-to-the-basket situations. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to lead, and those last two games I don’t feel like I did a good job,” Jefferson said. “I thought we needed something different on the court.... Sometimes I get the ball and I don’t even look at the basket, but today it was just about being aggressive and attacking.” Okafor was quiet in the opening frame, attempting just three shots and heading to the locker room with four points. But
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The Chronicle Harrell was even quieter, not scoring until he beat the first-half buzzer with a friendly bounce. The junior finished with a doubledouble—10 points and 14 rebounds—but like Louisville’s long-range shooters, was never able to get in sync. The Blue Devils led 30-20 at halftime, and a Quinn Cook triple on the second half’s first possession kickstarted a 16-5 run that allowed Duke to take complete control. During that stretch, it was the Blue Devil guards—not Louisville pickpockets Rozier and Jones—that created havoc, turning the Cardinals over and getting opportunities in transition. Louisville’s full-court press didn’t seem to bother Duke—its lead ballooned to 21 at one point—until the final few minutes. After setting up Jefferson with open looks in the first half, Okafor came alive in the second half, hitting eight of his 10 shots, most of them coming right around the rim. The Blue Devils outscored the Cardinals 32-24 in the paint. “Jah was really patient. They’re such a good defensive team, it’s tough to score against them,” Krzyzewski said. “They took away Jah, but he still played, and then some things opened up.” Louisville tried to climb its way back into contention with a personal 7-0 run from Rozier, but Tyus Jones responded by breaking the Cardinals’ full-court press and drawing a defender and dishing to Okafor for an uncontested dunk to go back up by 16. The Cardinals were able to make things interesting in the latter part of the second half, as Duke fouls put Louisville in the
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Eric Lin | Chronicle File Photo Junior Amile Jefferson led the Blue Devils to a 63-52 victory with a game-high 19 points against then-No. 6 Louisville.
bonus with nine minutes left in the game. Despite the shooting woes, the Cardinals knocked down 8-of-10 free throws in the second half, but the Blue Devils countered by nailing 13-of-15 shots from the charity stripe to keep the lead in double-digits for the entirety of the second half. Apart from Okafor and Jefferson, Duke shot just 7-for-26 and made just four triples of its own. As the team continues
to search for the offensive success it enjoyed throughout nonconference play, the Blue Devils took a step toward putting forth a complete game Saturday and not letting the offensive struggles affect their defense, something Krzyzewski said they haven’t done since their win at Wisconsin Dec. 3. “As long as you’re winning, kids have a hard time listening to [their mistakes],”
Krzyzewski said. “They start to think even if we play poorly we can pull it out.... I think they realized that’s not going to work any more.” Duke will return to Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday at 7 p.m. against Pittsburgh, seeking Krzyzewski’s 999th career victory. This article originally ran Jan. 17, 2015
6 | FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015
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Congratulations Blue Devils on another national championship. We’re all smiles, too. From the dental insurance provider to Duke University. Ameritas ® and the bison design are registered service marks of Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. Fulfilling life ® is a registered service mark of affiliate Ameritas Holding Company. © 2015 Ameritas Mutual Holding Company. Securities offered through Ameritas Investment Corp., member FINRA/SIPC. Dental, vision and hearing care products are issued by Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. in all states other than New York, and by Ameritas Life Insurance of New York in New York.
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FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015 | 7
COVERING THE CHAMPS
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Men’s Basketball
Okafor, lineup change spur comeback at Virginia Amrith Ramkumar Beat Writer CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—With 5:19 left in arguably their most important game of the season, the Blue Devils looked dead in the water. As head coach Mike Krzyzewski put it, “The mental thought was ‘What lifeboat are you in?’” Duke trailed the No. 2 team in the country 56-47 on the road and the roof seemed ready to pop off John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers had already scored 31 points in the second half and dissected the Blue Devils’ man-to-man and 2-3 zone defenses led by AllACC guard Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon—who scored 23 points to lead his team past Duke in last year’s ACC championship—had already scored 13 points and Virginia had scored four points on one possession after Justise Winslow picked up the Blue Devils’ first flagrant foul of the season. After coughing up a late lead at No. 8 Notre Dame Wednesday and scoring just two field goals the last 10:58, Duke’s ACC goals were surely about to be on life support. The Blue Devils had to make up a nine-point deficit in 5:19 against a team that had held three opponents to less than 30 points in 40-minute games. “They’re so big and strong, and they’re deep—I thought at the start of the second
Izzi Clark | Chronicle File Photo Duke freshman center Jahlil Okafor went 5-of-7 from the field for 10 points and added nine rebounds as the Blue Devils knocked off the previously undefeated Cavaliers.
half they kind of wore us out,” Krzyzewski said. “They just took over…. Brogdon is not a good player—Brogdon is a great player. They’re all good, but he’s exceptional.” Brogdon and his teammates had certainly been exceptional again Saturday in their bid to start the season 20-0, but Saturday Duke did a complete 180 with its late-game execution and did something that was more than exceptional. The Blue Devils scored 22 points on their
final eight possessions—going 5-of-6 from 3-point range after starting the game 1-of-11— and finally found a way to slow down Brogdon. The 6-foot-5 guard had been a pest in Duke’s 2-3 zone by utilizing the open space in its heart at the free throw line and cutting toward the short corner, so the Blue Devils did what they did so well at then-No. 6 Louisville two weeks ago: they adapted. Duke’s zone turned into a 3-2 rather than a 2-3, with the guards pinching in to essentially
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pop the bubble in the middle of the zone that Brogdon had been exploiting, and Virginia was unable to score in the last 2:59. Its lead and momentum suddenly vanished, not only in the game, but in the ACC. The Cavaliers had a chance to go two games ahead in the loss column before the Blue Devils switched up their scheme. Virginia was soon on the wrong end of a game-clinching 14-2 run and fell 69-63 to leave No. 1 Kentucky as the only unbeaten team in college basketball. Thanks to its late hot streak, Duke became the first team in the Cavaliers’ last 45 ACC games to shoot better than 50 percent from the field. “[At first], Brogdon was cutting and we weren’t active. Coach K was [saying] ‘You’ve got to be active, aggressive and guard,’ to myself and Tyus [so we could] help the back line,” senior guard Quinn Cook said. “[Later] the back line was talking to us and we did a good job.” With Duke finally getting the stops it did in the first half when Virginia started the game just 1-of-7 from the field, the Blue Devils were finally able to do what they wanted to offensively—run. Cook came alive, knocking down all three of his triples in the last five minutes—including the go-ahead shot with 1:19 left—and Matt and Tyus Jones each added a clutch triple of their own. Although it’s easy to attribute the trio’s
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Men’s Basketball
INSTANT CLASSIC: Jones fuels overtime win vs. UNC Nick Martin Sports Editor Tobacco Road—meet Tyus Jones. Playing what will go down as one of the best of the 239 Tobacco Road rivalry games, No. 4 Duke downed No. 15 North Carolina 92-90 in overtime Wednesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium behind senior captain Quinn Cook’s six 3-pointers and Jones’ late-game heroics. The pair combined for 44 points by the time it was all over. “I was just trying to make a play. My brothers believe in me when I have the ball in my hands and that gives me all the confidence in the world,” Jones said. “There was a point—I think it was 7972 in a timeout—and [head coach Mike Krzyzewski] told us, ‘We’re going to win this game.’ We believe in everything Coach says. There wasn’t one moment we doubted ourselves. Even down 10, we know there’s a lot of basketball left.” The Blue Devils (23-3, 10-3 in the ACC) trailed by seven with 1:38 remaining in regulation and seemingly could not buy a bucket—they were 3-of-10 from the field since the eight-minute mark. Luckily for them, Jones lives for those kind of moments. The Apple Valley, Minn., native scored Duke’s next nine points—including the game-tying layup with 27 seconds left—and
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Emma Loewe | Chronicle File Photo Blue Devil point guard Tyus Jones scored nine straight points for Duke in the final 1:38 of regulation to force overtime, where Duke would go on to beat its Tobacco Road rival 92-90.
put the Blue Devils right back in the game. “He’s got cold blood, he’s got cold blood in his veins. It’s amazing to watch,” Cook said of Jones. The freshman kept it going in overtime, converting on a layup and finding his backcourt partner Cook for a fast-break layup—Jones’ eighth assist of the game. Cook came through moments later with 31.8 seconds remaining, as he converted 1-of-2 free throws to push the Duke lead
to 91-89. Twenty-three seconds later, the senior sealed it with one more from the charity stripe to give the Blue Devils their final margin of victory in the first overtime game the rivalry has seen since 2004. “It’s tough for this game to always live up to the hype, but I think tonight’s game exceeded it,” Krzyzewski said. “Every once in a while, one team doesn’t do its part—us or them. But for the most part, both teams come and play at a high, high level. And
that’s what happened tonight.” And as the score indicated, the game was arguably Duke’s hardest-fought of the season. After opening the first half on a 15-6 tear, the Blue Devils fell flat coming out of halftime and for the first time all evening, the Tar Heels (18-8, 8-5) took the lead on a J.P. Tokoto reverse slam dunk. The junior entered the game with three made field goals in his past three games but broke out of his slump with 15 points. After scoring seven points in the first 20 minutes, Jefferson poured in six in the opening seven minutes of the second half, including a four-point stretch to break North Carolina’s run and swing the momentum back to Duke. Enter Cook. The senior guard knocked down his sixth 3-pointer of the night with 11:12 remaining in the game to close the gap to one for the Blue Devils. Coming into the game, much was made of the matchup between Cook and Jones and the Marcus Paige-led Tar Heel backcourt. But it was clear from the start Duke was going to get the better of the North Carolina guards. The Blue Devil tandem went for 44 points opposed to just seven combined points from Tar Heel starters Paige and Justin Jackson. “I watch a lot of film on [Paige]. He’s See North Carolina on Page 18
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FIVE GOLD Nick Martin Sports Editor
INDIANAPOLIS—The drive for five was not without its bumps, but led by the secondhalf heroics of rookie guards Tyus Jones and Grayson Allen, Duke will hang yet another banner at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke won its fifth national championship in an instant classic, besting Wisconsin 68-63 at Lucas Oil Stadium Monday night. Jones and Allen combined for 39 points to lead the Blue Devils to their second title in six years in Indianapolis, with Jones and freshman center Jahlil Okafor engineering a late 10-0 run to seal the win. But on a night that featured a freshman duo as the brightest stars, the title and subsequent banner might have meant the most to the team’s lone senior. “Something that we’ve all dreamed of— growing up watching Duke, watching Coach K win championships and celebrate with his great players,” senior captain Quinn Cook said. “To be next to Coach, he’s been like a father to me over these last four years, so to have his arm around me and hugging me while we’re watching One Shining Moment, it was probably the best feeling of my life.” Cook got his championship moment, but the Blue Devils’ freshman guards were the ones who earned Duke’s second title in Indianapolis in the last six years.
Jones torched the Badgers for 22 points in the teams’ first matchup in Madison and showed once again—this time on the world’s brightest stage—that he may have been the most clutch player in college basketball this season. After scoring just four points in the first half, Jones burst out of the gates in the second period, scoring 19 points in the final 20 minutes, keeping the Badgers from pulling away and saving the Blue Devils’ hopes of a fifth national championship. “[Playing with Jones] makes the game a lot easier,” rookie swingman Justise Winslow said. “Him being a leader, being able to make plays with the ball in his hand and then also he has range, so it spreads out the court. There’s really no better point guard I would rather play with than him.” Jones stole the show once again, but entering the game most eyes were on the teams’ two dominant centers—Okafor and National Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky. The battle between the duo lived up to the hype early on, with the two exchanging jabs—Kaminsky knocked down a 3-pointer to get Wisconsin on the board first and took a key charge in the game’s opening minutes. Okafor countered with a pair of thunderous dunks. But the fight would die quickly, as Okafor picked up his fourth foul with 9:18 left in the game because of his inability to stay with Kaminsky off the dribble. It was neither Okafor nor Kaminsky that
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DEN RINGS commanded the gaze of Lucas Oil Stadium’s crowd of 71,149—rather, Duke’s dynamic duo featured the normally clutch Jones and his unlikely sidekick, Allen, who did not even see the court in the teams’ Dec. 3 matchup. The Jacksonville, Fla., native attacked the rim with reckless abandon, finishing with 16 points—12 coming in the second half—and a perfect 5-of-5 from the foul line. With the Blue Devils trailing 48-39 with 13:25 remaining, Allen scored eight consecutive points for Duke to keep his team’s bid for a national title alive. “We got down nine there in the second half and things weren’t going well and then maybe the most unsung of our freshmen came in and gave us a lift and got us back going,” associate head coach Jeff Capel said. “Then Tyus got going, Jah came in, in some foul trouble, made some big baskets.” Junior Amile Jefferson—who played stifling defense on Kaminsky down the stretch after Okafor went to the bench—added a key block on the Blue Devils’ next defensive possession. Jones then drove down the court, took on Koenig and drew a foul on the right baseline while flipping up a prayer. With Koenig, Jones and the capacity crowd looking on, the ball fell, stroking the bottom of the net as the official’s whistle sounded. The Apple Valley, Minn., native converted the free throw to cut Duke’s deficit to 51-50. “Tyus has been money all year,” sophomore guard Matt Jones said. “When he makes shots
and Elysia Su| The Chronicle
like those, you sort of expect it. And when he misses, you’re kind of mad at him because he’s teased you so long that you just expect him to make it. And he hasn’t failed us yet.” Six minutes later, Allen put in a tough layup over the outstretched fingers of Wisconsin guard Josh Gasser to give Duke its first lead of the second half. Then Jones and Okafor sealed the deal. The Badgers took a 58-56 lead with 4:25 left in the game, but Jones kick-started the Blue Devils’ game-clinching 10-0 run 17 seconds later by canning a 3-pointer following a high ball screen—the play Duke used throughout the second half to free up its closer. Okafor—who had been held scoreless in the second half—then showed why he was the ACC Player of the Year, putting in back-to-back buckets to extend the Blue Devil lead to five. Another dagger Jones 3-pointer with 1:24 left from the top of the key capped the run and sealed the win—the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player would later ice the game from the free-throw line. “I haven’t loved a team any more than I’ve loved this team,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We have eight guys, and four of them are freshmen. For them to win 35 games, and win the national title is incredible…. How good is that? They’ve been a joy, they’ve been an incredible joy. When you’re already happy and you get even happier? That’s pretty damn good.”
FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015 | 11
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Congratulations Coach K and the 2015 National Champion Men’s Basketball Team!
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Students
Campus erupts with joy in response to title Adam Beyer Staff Writer A five point victory for Duke’s fifth national championship made for one passionate campus celebration. As the Blue Devils fought their way past Wisconsin late in the second half Monday night, students watching the game in Cameron Indoor Stadium abandoned their seats to stand courtside. When the final buzzer sounded, the crowd erupted—storming the court, embracing one another and crying tears of joy. Students then poured onto the Main Quadrangle on West Campus and surrounded the celebratory bonfire, reveling in the win with screaming, selfies and, in some cases, streams of tears. “I’m super excited,” said freshman Michelle Zhu while taking pictures of her friends with the bonfire. “It was so intense. The second half was super clutch.” Even in the excitement of the immediate moment, many students took a step back to appreciate the significance of the evening—with many snapping pictures to preserve the memory. “I’m glad that I’ll have this forever, and I’ll be able to connect with everyone in this class about it,” junior Jake Leaman said before embracing his girlfriend. The University brought in more than 100 extra security personnel to campus for the game. Beginning at 4:30 p.m. Monday, security was enhanced around campus, and students were required to show their DukeCards to access campus buildings and buses. The extra security did not dampen the excitement, however. “It was thrilling,” freshman Sam Brougher said. “It was great to be in Cameron. The atmosphere was incredible. It doesn’t quite feel real.” Students from all schools and years—as well as faculty, staff and community members—mingled at the bonfire,
Emma Loewe | The Chronicle Thousands of Duke students flocked to Cameron Indoor Stadium to watch the Blue Devils take down the Badgers.
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NO EXCUSE SIR
Washington Post columnist and former Chronicle Sports Editor John Feinstein writes why Coach K keeps on winning If you want to understand how Mike Krzyzewski has accomplished what he has accomplished during his 35 years as Duke’s basketball coach, you need only understand these three words: No excuse sir. Everything Krzyzewski has done—the five national titles; the 12 Final Fours; the 13 ACC tournament titles; the 1,018 wins AND being a loving husband, father and grandfather—begins with those three words. He learned them when he was a plebe at West Point. He
John Feinstein
hated them; hated having to say them; hated having to live with the consequences of saying them. Plebes are allowed three answers when speaking to an upperclassmen at West Point: Yes-sir, no-sir and no-excuse sir. Krzyzewski’s first ‘no-excuse sir,’ occurred early one morning when he and another plebe were on their way to class and his friend stepped into some mud and splattered Krzyzewski’s shoes. Sure enough, 10 steps later, they encountered an upperclassman who began screaming at Krzyzewski about the disgraceful state of his shoes. “No excuse sir,” Krzyzewski said in response, all the while thinking: ‘It’s not MY fault this idiot stepped in the mud and
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splattered my shoes. This is completely unfair.’ “Except it wasn’t,” Krzyzewski said, years later. “There WAS no excuse. As soon as I got splattered I should have sprinted back to the barracks, changed shoes and run to class. But I didn’t think quickly enough so I got into trouble. Someone does something to your shoes YOU are responsible. That’s what West Point teaches you. Standing around making excuses in battle gets people killed.” By the time he graduated and spent five years in the army, Krzyzewski had taken the three dreaded words to heart. They have followed him throughout his career. When he went zero-for-five trying to coax big-time recruits during his first season at Duke, he didn’t blame the players or even other coaches who might or might not have been playing by the rules. He sat down with his staff and said, “From now on we don’t recruit 20 players and waste time with guys who aren’t all that interested. We figure out not only who we want but who is serious about wanting us.” No excuse sir. A year later, Duke signed six players: Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas, David Henderson, Weldon Williams and Bill Jackman. Four years later, the first four players in that group were the heart and soul of Krzyzewski’s first Final Four team. They lost in the 1986 national championship game, beaten down the stretch by Louisville. There were a couple of dicey calls—especially a block-charge that went against Bilas—but Krzyzewski (unlike some coaches) said nothing postgame about the officiating. What he DID say was that Alarie and Henderson were both clearly tired after a grueling semifinal against Kansas and their coach hadn’t done a good enough job of keeping them fresh. No excuse sir. Five years later, after Duke had stunned Nevada-Las Vegas in the semifinals, Krzyzewski could see that Christian Laettner was tired on Monday night. Throughout the game, he took Laettner out anytime there was a whistle that was close to the next TV time out. He gave Laettner a little more time to rest his legs and his mind. Duke beat Kansas to win Krzyzewski’s first national championship. In 1995, Krzyzewski pushed himself too hard coming back from back surgery. He came back to practice too soon and pushed himself to a point of exhaustion, so much so that he had to leave his team after 12 games and couldn’t return the rest of the season.
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He went to Athletic Director Tom Butters and offered to resign. He was the leader and he had failed his troops because he couldn’t lead them. No excuse sir. Butters told him the only person he wanted coaching his basketball team was the same man he had hired 15 years earlier. Krzyzewski went back to the drawing board. He wanted his staff to be younger and he knew he had to get back on the recruiting trail more often—not just accept the word of others, especially the so-called recruiting gurus, about how good players might or might not be. Duke went back to the Final Four in 1999 and won a third national championship in 2001. Three years later, the Blue Devils were back in the Final Four, but lost a game to Connecticut they should have won. After that loss, freshman Luol Deng turned pro—which caught Krzyzewski by surprise. Incoming recruit Shaun Livingston decided to go straight to the NBA (this was before the oneand-done rule) and Kris Humphries balked at enrolling in Duke’s pre-freshman summer school program. Why bother improving yourself academically, Humphries reasoned, when you’re only planning to spend a year in college. He ended up at Minnesota—for one year. Krzyzewski was upset with Deng’s departure and the noshows of Livingston and Humphries. “I want kids who are going to stay at least three years,” he said that summer. “I want to have a chance to coach the guys who play for me.” Five years later, Duke hadn’t been back to the Final Four. The one-and-done rule had been passed and other schools were loading up on kids who were only going to stay in college for a year. In the spring of 2010, with a starting lineup made up of three seniors and two juniors, Krzyzewski won his fourth national title. No excuse sir. But Krzyzewski knew if he wanted to keep up with the Joneses—or the Caliparis—he couldn’t ignore the fact that great talents like Kyrie Irving, Austin Rivers and Jabari Parker wanted to pass through Duke on their way to the NBA. “If I don’t recruit them, someone else will,” he said—accurately. But it was tough to wrap his head around coaching transients.
Brianna Siracuse | The Chronicle Head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been able to bring back five national titles to Durham thanks to three words: No excuse sir.
He did it, but found little joy in it. Twice in three seasons, teams built around a one-and-done player went down in the first round of the NCAA tournament. After the loss to Mercer in March of 2014, Krzyzewski sat down—again—and looked himself in the mirror. There were plenty of excuses for Duke’s failed season. His brother Bill had died at Christmas and Krzyzewski had struggled with his emotions and his loss all winter. There wasn’t anyone in the world who couldn’t understand that. He’d had a too-young team that simply wasn’t tough enough to win close games. Everyone knew that too. Krzyzewski didn’t care. It was on him. He had owed it to his players to fight his emotions and be there for them when they needed him most. He hadn’t done enough to insist that his team keep improving. No excuse sir. And so, one more time he re-invented himself. There were little things: Texting his players on a daily basis because that’s
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how teenagers communicate. Following his players on Twitter to get an idea of what was on their mind. And, once and for all, embracing one-and-done. He didn’t have to like it to accept it. And so, when Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones showed up—the first two lock one-and-dones, the third a serious possibility—he coached them as if they were seniors. He threw them into the crucible and said, “Perform-—and get better.” They did both. It wasn’t easy, notably the back-to-back blowouts by N.C. State and Miami that led to the unveiling of the zone—akin to accepting the devil into your life in Krzyzewski’s mind—and then the six-game odyssey from Charlotte to Houston to Indianapolis. It ended though, on a Monday night in April, with the latest new Mike Krzyzewski cutting down the final net for the fifth time. Now, without doubt, he sits at John Wooden’s shoulder on coaching’s Mount Rushmore. There’s no need to chisel anything beyond those three magic words underneath his image: No excuse sir.
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Column
THE BANNER IS JUST A REMINDER The dust has settled, bonfires long extinguished. After months of agonizing, doubting, questioning, screaming and hoping, Duke is coming home to Durham with its fifth national championship in tow. And the Blue Devils’ 68-63 title game victory against Wisconsin was the battle that every college basketball fan dreamed it would be. The buildup. The excitement. The eyes of the sporting world shift to one stage, where everything is one the line. But somehow, despite the drama and magnitude of the moments, championship games—even one featuring a thrilling comeback by my own school—have always seemed somewhat anticlimactic. Days, sometimes weeks, are spent dissecting every angle of the big game. Every possible matchup. Every key injury. Every intriguing backstory over which we can scrutinize and fantasize. We analyze the teams’ last matchup as though they played each other last week, even if they haven’t seen each other for four months. We break down the team’s last game as though it is the way they played the entire season, even if they’re just getting hot at the right time. And by the time we’re done with all
Daniel Carp
Elysia Su | The Chronicle The Blue Devils secured their fifth title banner with a 68-63 win against No. 1 seed Wisconsin.
this, we blink a couple times and the beginning of the second half is ticking down. For a fleeting second, we wish that the entire season did not have to be decided by one, arbitrary game and that the moment wasn’t passing us by
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so quickly. This is why I couldn’t wait until after Duke and Wisconsin went to war to put pen to paper and reflect on the Blue Devils’ magical season. Instead, I wrote the majority of these words the
morning of the national championship game, hours before tipoff in Indianapolis. Because one game does not do an entire season justice, and neither does a column written at the apex of an emotional roller coaster—the hour directly following the game when I was guaranteed to be either brimming with joy or angrily sulking in the depths of 301 Flowers. That isn’t to say that 40 minutes in Indianapolis doesn’t change anything. Last night’s game determined whether or not the West Campus benches would go up in flames or sit idly on the quad in hopes of next year. Whether they would have to make room in the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium for a fifth national championship banner. Whether this year’s Duke national championship T-shirts would be adorned by smiling Blue Devil fans across this nation or smiling children in a third-world country, joining the immortal wardrobe of almost-champs alongside the 2007 New England Patriots and about a dozen different teams Kentucky fans thought would go undefeated. Throughout this year’s NCAA tournament, Duke players young and old have reiterated that from the first day of practice, the team’s goal was to win a national championship. But the day before the biggest game of his basketball career,
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senior captain Quinn Cook slightly changed his tune. “It’s motivation for us to be special,” he said. Long before the Blue Devils took scissors to the nets at Lucas Oil Stadium, this season was already special. Special because of Jahlil Okafor’s mind-numbingly nimble post moves that make him look like a 7-foot ballerina; Justise Winslow’s killer instinct and jaw-dropping athleticism; Tyus Jones’ uncanny ability to rise to the occasion; Grayson Allen’s spring-loaded legs; Matt Jones’ emergence as a late-game assassin; Amile Jefferson’s intensity and willingness to accept a reduced role; Marshall Plumlee’s primal scream; Nick Pagliuca’s dry sense of humor; Sean Kelly’s opportunity to live every Duke student’s dream. And, of course, Cook’s four years of growth from a loud-mouthed boy into a calm and confident man, during which he raised his game every step of the way and led a Blue Devil team that started the year with 10 scholarship players and ended it with eight to the pinnacle of the college basketball world. This team has just as strong of a connection with its peers as it does with its legendary head coach. Every student at this University knows that from the opening game of this season, the Blue Devils have been playing for each of them. There’s an undeniable joy in the way they play, a pervading happiness that you can see in their
eyes on the court—that, along with the team’s toughness, has helped forge this connection. The fact that I misspelled originally the word “justice” a few paragraphs ago and instead wrote Justise, as in Winslow, serves as a living testament. Prior to this year, Duke seniors like myself had yet to see the Blue Devils earn an ACC regular season or tournament title or Final Four appearance, including two gut-wrenching opening-round exits in the NCAA tournament. This team has paid us back by taking us on the ride of our lives. Throughout this season, head coach Mike Krzyzewski has taken time during his postgame press conferences to remind the media that he loves his team. In recent years, Krzyzewski has undoubtedly had deep love for certain players on his teams. This is different. Top to bottom, he loves every player on this team like a son. He loves how unselfish they are and how quick they are to seize the moment. He loves them when they lose, and he loves them win they win. You could see that from start to finish Monday night—from Allen’s ferocious second-half drives to Tyus Jones’ dagger 3-pointer to the tear-jerking sight of Cook hoisting the championship trophy. This is what made this team truly special, and this is why they will be remembered—the banner is simply a reminder. The story had already been written. This was just the ending.
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continued from page 8 late-game shooting to the law of averages or competitive spirit, a closer look shows that it was the product of another other distinct late-game changes for Duke. Krzyzewski and his staff decided to go to a four-guard lineup exclusively down the stretch despite playing with just eight scholarship players, four of whom are traditional guards. Even 6-foot-5 Matt Jones saw time at power forward as the Blue Devils searched for answers against the Cavaliers. With dominant center Jahlil Okafor being used as a physical presence to draw attention and attack the offensive glass rather than as a primary scorer, Duke was finally able to solve the riddle that is Virginia’s stingy pack-line defense. Okafor was facing likely the most physical double teams of his young career, did not attempt a field goal for 17 minutes of first-half action and for a decent portion of the second half had the same number of traveling violations as he did points.
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But by game’s end, the Chicago native’s six offensive rebounds and efficiency with a quartet of guards around him got the Blue Devils back to looking like a national title contender and were the topics of interest. “When you have four guards in, when [the opponent goes] and double [teams], a three might be [more] open—that’s why we went to that lineup,” Krzyzewski said. “When we got the threes in the second half, they weren’t as much in front of us because it was transition or we moved around so we had a better window.” Duke still faces a myriad of questions after the dismissal of Rasheed Sulaimon and a tough ACC slate ahead, but for the third time this season on the road against a top-six opponent, it found a way to get the job done. “A lot of credit to Virginia—we haven’t played a [defense] of that caliber,” Cook said. “We had to work for everything we got tonight—that’s what makes it a little bit more special.” This article originally ran Feb. 1, 2015
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one of my favorite players to watch. He puts on shows,” Cook said. “It was a great challenge and my teammates helped me a lot. But we’ve got to see him again.” Cook had 15 first-half points, but he was not alone in securing the early lead for Duke. Freshman Justise Winslow led the charge in the early going, using his size advantage on Tokoto to convert on a stepback jumper after posting up and then driving past the junior to get the bucket. Jones found Winslow two possessions later on a lob to the rim which the Houston native converted easily. Winslow scored six points in the first 4:04. But it was the sharp-shooting of the Blue Devils’ lone senior that provided Duke with the double-digit cushion it enjoyed for much of the half. Cook may have downplayed the storyline of the game being his final against the Tar Heels at Cameron, but the senior captain’s first-half play said otherwise. Cook was nearly automatic from downtown, draining five 3-pointers and locking down Paige on defense. North Carolina, however, would not stay quiet the entire half, thanks to its big men. After trailing 23-13 with 13:08 following a Cook trey, the Tar Heels spent the next seven minutes chipping away at the Duke lead. Brice Johnson—one of North Carolina’s athletic forwards—led the charge with 12 points and helped the Tar Heels whittle the lead down to six with 7:42 remaining in the half. Duke once again got some breathing room, extending its lead to nine, but it was short-lived, as by the 4:54-mark a fast-break dunk by Tokoto and a 3-pointer from Paige had closed the gap to four. With 3:33 remaining before intermission, Duke got a major scare. After missing on a spin hook, Jahlil Okafor’s left foot came on Joel James’ foot and the Blue Devil big man fell to the floor. After spending several minutes on the court, Okafor was helped off and taken to the locker room. The Chicago native returned to the game just before the break, playing the entire second half and finishing with 12 points and 13 rebounds. “I was scared for him. You never want to see your brother hurt,” Cook said. “But he’s tough, so I wasn’t surprised he fought through it. He told us he’ll be ready Saturday.” This article originally ran Feb. 18, 2015
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continued from page 13 watching benches go up in flames as the team gave its postgame press conference more than 600 miles away. “I couldn’t think of a better way to begin my time at Duke,” freshman John Clarke said. “I’m beyond ecstatic.” Although more than 1,000 students—undergraduate, graduate and professional alike— packed Cameron, people viewed the game from all over campus. Many watched from dormitory common rooms or from spaces like The Loop Pizza Grill. “It was crazy,” sophomore Erik Garrigo said of the viewing atmosphere at The Loop. “The place was packed and people were on the tables.” The bonfire was put out a little before 1 a.m., and students dispersed to other parts of campus to continue their celebrations. Many ventured to popular off-campus destination Shooters II Saloon, which stayed open after hosting a watch party Monday evening. Several alumni made a pilgrimage back to campus to celebrate the outcome as well. “We had an incredible season,” said Arun Sharma, Trinity ‘12. “Coach K has proved that he can win it a million different ways. He can win it with freshman talent and senior talent, and this is an incredible addition to his legacy.” Claire Ballentine, Alex Griffith and Jake Herb contributed reporting.
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