This is the second installment in a three-part series highlighting the accomplish- ments of Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski as he approaches his 500th career win. Tomorrow's story will feature Krzyzewski's recent success and future.
A new era of college basketball greatness was established in 1986 as coach Mike Krzyzewski led Duke to an amazing run of advancing to seven NCAA Final Four out of a possible nine years, topped by back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992.
What was the driving force behind Duke's unprecedented success?
Was it Duke's talent? All-Americans Mark Alarie, Tommy Amaker, Johnny Dawkins, Danny Ferry, Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner were among the many talented players who helped lead Duke to prominence.
Was it senior leadership? Krzyzewski's first Final Four squad was led by seniors Alarie, Jay Bilas, Dawkins and David Henderson. The duo of Billy King and Kevin Strickland helped lead Duke to Kansas City in 1988; Quin Snyder, John Smith and Ferry did it in 1989; Alaa Abdelnaby, Robert Brickey and Phil Henderson did it in 1990; Clay Buckley and Greg Koubek did it in 1991; Brian Davis and Laettner did it in 1992; Hill and Antonio Lang did it in 1994.
Without a doubt, talent and senior leadership were huge keys to Duke's success, but Krzyzewski was the one who was actively recruiting and evaluating players and helping to develop talented, but unpolished freshman into seniors who would lead Duke squads to great success. How he did do it was through a simple philosophy of honesty, commitment and love for his players.
"Coach K has been the one constant excellent thing behind Duke basketball," Laettner said following Duke's second national title in 1992.
The veteran 1986 Blue Devil squad stormed onto the national scene by setting a national record for victories in a season with a 37-3 record. Although Duke ended up losing 72-69 in the NCAA championship game to Louisville, Krzyzewski was happy with the Blue Devils' overall season.
"I hope I have many, many more seasons like this," Krzyzewski said following his squad's disappointing loss. "To say it was a sensational year may be a little mild. We won the NIT, the [Atlantic Coast Conference] regular season title, the ACC tournament and set a record for wins. How could it be anything but sensational."
1986 was also a monumental year for Krzyzewski as he was named ACC and National Coach of the Year. Little did the young coach know that he would soon be compared with the likes of
While 1986 was Duke's first ever appearance in the Final Four in the Krzyzewski era, 1988 marked the first of the Blue Devils' five consecutive Final Four appearances.
Fast forward to 1990: the Blue Devils faced one of their stiffest challenges when they took on an undefeated UNLV squad in the national title game. Duke simply was out-played and overmatched, losing by a demoralizing 103-73 score. The Running Rebels were able to execute their fast break offense at will against the Blue Devils
In the minds of many Blue Devil basketball fans and observers, 1991 was expected to a transition year, especially after the embarrassing title game defeat and the loss of three key starters in Abdelnaby, Brickey and Henderson.
Additionally, the 1991 team was a young squad with only one senior, Greg Koubek, in the starting lineup. As a result, junior Christian Laettner, sophomores Bobby Hurley and Thomas Hill and freshman Grant Hill would carry the load for the young Blue Devils. Despite the doubts expressed by outsiders, Krzyzewski still had faith in his inexperienced squad.
"To call this a rebuilding year would be a real cop-out for the program," Krzyzewski said.
Krzyzewski was more than right, as the Blue Devils would not only capture their first national title, but also avenge the previous year's loss to UNLV by defeating the Running Rebels in the National semifinals and beating Kansas in the championship game. Krzyzewski and Duke finally had their first title-after their fifth Final Four appearance.
"[Not winning] has never been a monkey on my back," Krzyzewski said. "I'm just happy for my team. Did you see their faces? I looked at my three daughters and saw the tears in their eyes. I hope we do it again."
If Duke shook the monkey off its back in 1991, the Blue Devils buried the monkey in 1992. The Blue Devils captured their second title in as many years, becoming the first team since John Wooden's immortal UCLA squads in the 70's to win back-to-back titles. However, that title run will forever be remembered by basketball fans most for 'the shot' that propelled Duke into the Final Four.
With 2.6 seconds remaining in the East Regional Finals against Kentucky, Hill launched a baseball pass the length of the court to Laettner, who caught the pass at the free throw line, turned to his right, then his left and swished the jump shot that sent Duke into its fifth consecutive Final Four appearance. Duke then
"What Mike Krzyzewski has done at Duke is unheard of," Michigan head coach Steve Fisher said following the Blue Devils' 71-51 victory over the Wolverines. "They've done it with, one-great players, two-outstanding coaches and three-luck. They have had a phenomenal, phenomenal run.
"They put themselves in position year after year to get here. They have found ways to win close games and make important plays when necessary. This rivals what UCLA did in winning those championships."
Duke again advanced to the Final Four in 1994, as a Grant Hill and Antonio Lang-led squad managed to carry Duke into the Finals against the Arkansas Razorbacks. However, the Razorbacks pulled away during the last few minutes of the game when sharpshooter Scotty Thurman finished Duke off with his deadly outside shots.
1994's Final Four appearance was Duke's seventh in nine years, a spectacular run-even more spectacular considering the program and the coach had just come to prominence during the last decade. However, for any big-time coach, with success come opportunities to move up, to earn more money and take on bigger challenges.
Krzyzewski soon became a big name not only in the college basketball ranks, but also in the U.S.A. basketball program. He would go on to coach the 1990 Goodwill Games, the 1990 World Championships, chair the selection committee for the 1992 men's Olympic basketball team, i.e. "Dream Team I", and also serve as an assistant to head coach Chuck Daly on that team.
After the 1994 season, Krzyzewski was heavily courted by the Miami Heat and almost ended up leaving Duke for the NBA. He and his family eventually rejected the lucrative opportunity and ended up staying in Durham.
Although his decision to stay at Duke brought relief to many, cracks were beginning to emerge in the seemingly unflappable Blue Devil basketball program. All-American Grant Hill did not graduate on time and players were having academic difficulties, prompting Krzyzewski to cancel a scheduled tour of Australia so players could stay in Durham and take classes.
How would Coach K deal with the academic and social difficulties facing his students? Would the fame and attention he received take away from his ability to monitor over every detail and take care of his players?
Although the period from 1986 to 1994 was a glorious time for Duke basketball, the Blue Devils program would take a quick tumble in the absence of its leader.
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