Most of the 1,966 people who were at Alabama that day call it the best basketball game of all time. In the second round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament, the underdog Duke women's basketball team took Alabama, a defending Final Four team, to quadruple overtime on the Crimson Tide's home court.
Two of the few people to witness that game who remain at Duke are then-sophomore Shaeeta Brown, who spent 54 of the 60 minutes on the bench, and then-second-year head coach Gail Goestenkors.
None of the other current members of the Duke women's basketball team saw the Alabama game, or many of the blow-out losses that Goestenkors and Brown suffered in that season or the one before it.
"Sometimes I feel a lot older," said Brown, a fifth-year senior. "There is no one else here from my first two years. I can't talk to any of my teammates about my freshman and sophomore years; they can't relate to the rough spots."
And while this year, Brown still only averages six minutes a game, there are far fewer rough spots. As the lone senior and a co-captain, she has led the team from the bench to its first Atlantic Coast Conference title.
"Shaeeta's been an inspiration to all of us," Goestenkors said. "She's a great leader. She's had to lead at times from the bench, but she's accepted her role and she's always made the best of team situations. She's always remained positive."
Brown was a member of the first class that Goestenkors recruited. As the team has risen through the ranks of the ACC, their coach-player relationship has developed beyond the ordinary.
"We've both struggled," Goestenkors said. "It's a long road to the top and through hard work and commitment she's helped us get from the bottom to the top. She's sent a good message about sacrificing your personal goals for the team."
Brown came to Duke with a high-school athletic record unparalleled by most athletes. At Brusly High in Louisiana, she lettered in volleyball, basketball, and softball for four years. For two years she also ran track during softball season and lettered in that as well.
She earned all-state honors in softball and volleyball, a spot on the state All-Star basketball team, and was a member of the state championship 400 meter relay team.
Despite her success in numerous sports, Brown was certain she wanted to continue with basketball.
"Basketball was my first love," she said. "I did the other sports to stay in shape and keep busy."
In the end, much of that potential was spoiled at Duke by Brown's continued injuries.
Early in her freshman year, Brown injured her knee, a problem which plagued her through her second season as well. She had decent playing time both of those years, averaging 7.3 minutes in 10 games her freshman year and 11.7 minutes in 29 games her sophomore season.
On Jan. 9 of what would have been her junior year, she underwent exploratory surgery on her left knee. After doctors found a damaged meniscus in the knee, Brown took the year off to redshirt. She was unable to physically practice at all during that season, and instead spent a great deal of time in the basketball office writing scouting reports and analyzing videotapes.
"She needed to use that year to make herself better," Goestenkors said. "Since she couldn't do anything physical she needed to work on her mental game. It's at the point where she began to really analyze the game and understand the game."
Brown also began to understand through those behind-the-scenes experiences that after she graduated she wanted to coach basketball and eventually become a minister.
During her junior year, she sat out many of the games, still recovering from the injury, and only felt completely healthy in the closing games of the season. This season, although Brown is healthy, the team has more depth than ever before and Goestenkors is concerned with developing the younger players.
As a result, Brown has seen action in 16 games, averaging six minutes per game.
"To say [the lack of playing time] doesn't affect me is to say that I'm not human," Brown said. "But to win the ACC Tournament is something I've always dreamed of. Just to be part of this team is one of the greatest things I can imagine."
With the season winding down, Brown will soon be leaving the team and the school into which she has invested five years of her life. A mathematics major, she will also be leaving behind a legacy as a student-athlete.
"It's going to be really hard," Goestenkors said. "She has a special place in my heart. She's been everything you could ask for as a player and a student-athlete. Our program is really going to miss her."
As the team takes the court this afternoon in the ACC Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the first time, Brown will probably be watching from her spot on the bench. But, at the same time, she will be the team leader, taking charge with more pride in the Blue Devils than ever before.
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