The walls of the Hall of Fame Room in Cameron Indoor Stadium where nine retired legendary basketball jerseys once hung now stand utterly bare.
The jerseys of Dick Groat, No. 10; Christian Laettner, No. 32; and Grant Hill, No. 33, were stolen from the Hall of Fame Room at various points throughout last spring semester, said athletic department and law enforcement officials.
Early in August, however, officials received a surprise: Groat's jersey was anonymously turned into the Durham Police Department.
Although Sergeant Paul Taylor of the Duke University Police Department said he knows the identity of the individual who stole and then turned in Groat's jersey, no charges will be filed because it was considered to be an "anonymous" act.
"We do know who took it, but there were no charges," he said. "It was anonymous, and that was part of the agreement to get the jersey back."
Although all three of the stolen jerseys were originals, noted Mike Cragg, director of sports information, Groat's is the only one that is not replaceable, making its return particularly important.
"We still have originals of Laettner's and Hill's, but that was the only Dick Groat original jersey we had," he said.
Neither Hill nor Laettner could be reached for comment.
Cragg said no one noticed the jerseys were missing until the middle of June, primarily because the room is not guarded and is visited infrequently.
"The [Hall of Fame Room] is open a lot and there are really no people around very often," he explained.
Nevertheless, Taylor said, the three jerseys were most likely not stolen all at once because they were last seen at different times in the room. He added, however, that officials are not ruling out the possibility that they were taken by the same person.
Until officials can determine a more secure display for the jerseys, they will remain away from public viewing, said Jill Mickle, coordinator of public relations for sports information.
"We're taking a 'wait-and-see' attitude," she said. "We will not display them until we are able to secure them without worrying about their being taken again."
In the meantime, the jerseys of Laettner and Hill-both three-time All-Americans in the 1990s-and Groat, a two-time All-American in the 1950s-along with those of Johnny Dawkins, Danny Ferry, Mike Gminski, Art Heyman, Bobby Hurley and Jeff Mullins have been removed by athletic department officials.
All that remains in the Hall of Fame Room now are plaques honoring past University athletes, two statue heads and nine barren spaces on the walls.
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