Yes, it’s still Duke. But this group of Blue Devils might actually be likeable
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NEWARK, N.J. – As unnatural as it might seem today, there was once a time when Duke basketball was actually cast in the role of the good guy.
It was 1991 and Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils were portrayed as a bunch of choirboys compared to Jerry Tarkanian and his undefeated UNLV outlaws in a Final Four rematch.
After getting blown out by a championship game-record 30 points the previous year by the aptly named Rebels, Duke pulled off an upset for the ages before beating Kansas 2 nights later for its first national title.
And all was right with the college basketball world. At least it was until the following March against that other plucky underdog Kentucky.
No, seriously.
Whatever goodwill the Blue Devils had built up ended the moment Christian Laettner planted his size 16 Nike onto the chest of Aminu Timberlake, got away with it, then shot Duke back to the Final Four and onto another championship with the most replayed shot in the history of sports television.
That’s when Duke became the team everybody other than its own fans loved to hate.
It’s only natural. Every good drama needs a villain.
What’s the point of having a hero swoop in to save humanity if there’s no menacing bad guy around for him to vanquish?
On the big screen, that bad guy is usually a terrorist with stolen nuclear warheads or a cowboy wearing a black hat. In basketball, it’s been a bunch of annoying college kids wearing blue jerseys led by a snarling, ref-baiting coach.
The pendulum, however, might have started swinging back in the other direction
No, the Blue Devils will never have the positive Q score they did in those early days, before Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Wojo, JJ Redick, Grayson Allen and a steady succession of other over-privileged, cocky stars came along.
Still, there’s clearly a different vibe surrounding the talented crew that executed such a surgical takedown of Alabama in Newark on Saturday to earn Duke’s 18th trip to the Final Four.
It’s a change that began to take shape 3 years ago when Coach K rode off into the sunset, fittingly at the Final Four.
Although his hand-picked successor Jon Scheyer was schooled at his side both as a player and a trusted assistant, and has adopted many of the same philosophies as his mentor, the former Duke point guard expresses his intensity with a smile rather than a scowl.
And this season, he’s put together a roster of equally likeable players.
Likeable?
Okay, maybe that’s a stretch. It is Duke, after all.
But given the resilience on the court of Tyrese Proctor, the off-the-court courage of Khaman Maluach from war-torn South Sudan and the unselfishness of veteran transfers Sion James, Mason Gillis and Maliq Brown – all of whom willingly accepted complementary roles when they could have been starters elsewhere – it’s hard to hate these Blue Devils the way some of their predecessors were hated.
Even the team’s stars, Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, play with such contagious energy, enthusiasm and personality that they’ve been tolerated if not embraced by mainstream fans, the national media and advertisers like AT&T. Menacing villains don’t have cute grandmas who knit their faces on sweaters and make sure they’re a good sport by shaking hands with everyone after winning at Bingo.
“Their attitudes the whole season, from Day 1, I think this group has been different,” Scheyer said after beating Alabama in the Elite Eight on Saturday to become only the third man ever to lead his alma mater to a Final Four as both a player and a coach. “I keep telling them, don’t change. Don’t change. Keep being them.”
These Blue Devils have the potential to pick up even more support next week in San Antonio now that they’re one of the last remaining obstacles standing in the way of Greg Sankey’s plan for world domination.
“That’s not something we really think about,” said James, a graduate transfer who played most of his career at Tulane. “We honestly try not to let outside stuff influence how we’re perceived. But yeah, it’s awesome to be seen as a likeable group. We’re just a bunch of guys who enjoy each other’s presence.”
If they keep this up, there’s a chance a few more people outside their “Brotherhood” might start liking them a little more, too.
Or at least, not hate them quite as much.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
