Chris Carrawell's bed was empty.
"I stayed up all night long," Carrawell said. "So by the time the team got up in the morning, I was the first one on the bus because I didn't go to sleep."
That night was March 29, 1999. The Untouchables, a 37-1 Duke team that simply couldn't lose, simply did. Carrawell scored nine points on 3-for-7 shooting and committed four turnovers as the Blue Devils fell 77-74 to Connecticut in the NCAA finals.
"You know, you get that close and you just want to lock it up, because you never know what is going to happen," Carrawell said.
Indeed, even Carrawell could not foresee what would happen next. Instead of regrouping for a climactic senior season and one last run at his ultimate goal, the St. Louis native watched as the foundations of an all-time great team crumbled around him.
"I pretty much knew we were going to lose Elton [Brand], but to lose the other guys was kind of a shock," Carrawell said after three teammates bolted prematurely for the pros and another transferred.
Next thing you know, a school bus full of freshmen rolled in and Carrawell, who worked his way up the ladder as a role player for three years, became the grand old man overnight. It felt like Uncle Chris taking the kiddies to the zoo.
"Sometimes I do feel like [a baby-sitter]," Carrawell joked. "It's kind of repetitive for me only because I've been here eight years.
"But it's needed. I want to be in tune with everything that's going on, and once you think you know everything, it's still a learning process."
Carrawell has certainly been around the block. In fact, he's probably the only player in ACC history who can claim to have defended both Tim Duncan and Terrell McIntyre. At some point or another, he's played all five positions for the Blue Devils, and he might repeat that feat this year.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski knows it can be hard on Carrawell and his co-captains Shane Battier and Nate James to relearn Duke basketball from A to Z.
"They're
Carrawell laughs when he thinks about the generation gap dividing the 1999-2000 Blue Devils. It's the anxious laugh of a player who senses that all eyes are squarely on him.
Fortunately, Carrawell has never been shy. In fact, his shoot-from-the hip style-he promised the assembled media members "I'll be back next year; I don't have anywhere to go," after Brand's announcement-has long made him a favorite among sportswriters and fans alike.
It's a trait that suits him well as one of two elder statesmen for the Blue Devils. And as he assumes the role of team leader, Carrawell has alumni bugging him with advice, too.
"I talked to Grant [Hill], and he said this was kind of like his senior year," Carrawell said. "Not really a lot was riding on it; nobody was really talking about them, and they made it to the final game. I'm not saying we can't do that. Who knows? But there won't be as much talk about it."
The parallel is fairly strong. In 1994, Hill lost his starting backcourt (Bobby Hurley and Thomas Hill), much like Carrawell's 1999 Blue Devils. But the current Detroit Piston did a little bit of everything, including a stint at point guard, to carry his team to the championship game.
It's a role Carrawell would love to reprise.
"Grant told me that I have a chance to really do well and help myself and also to lead this team like never before," Carrawell said. "It definitely is going to be like, if I don't play, we could get blown out, not like last year, where if I didn't play, we still won by 30.
"Hearing that from [Hill], saying, `You can do it,' gives me a lot of confidence."
Such a scenario could never have been predicted for Carrawell, who arrived at Duke in 1996 as the least-heralded of three recruits. He was playing with chronic shoulder problems so severe that, even at 6-foot-6, he had trouble dunking the ball.
Surgery repaired the shoulders and a knack for tenacious defense moved Carrawell to the head of his class as a sophomore, ahead of the oft-injured James and Mike Chappell, who would eventually transfer to Michigan State to find playing time.
Those days of struggling to carve out a niche seem a distant memory now, and Carrawell surveys Cameron Indoor Stadium with the wisdom of the ACC's most experienced player.
"The real players come out this year," said Carrawell, who thinks moving off campus to live with a cousin helped sharpen his focus even more. "Last year, Elton, Will [Avery], Trajan [Langdon], Corey [Maggette]-those guys were all so talented you could take nights off. There's no taking nights off anymore.
"All those guys out there [were] saying, `Carrawell, you know he's underrated.' Well, we're going to find out if he really is underrated this year. That's the challenge for me: I have to play at a high level every night or we won't win."
Krzyzewski put it in numerical terms.
"I knew that Brand and Langdon, that was 30 to 40 points every ball game," Krzyzewski said. "That's a good base. That's what Carrawell and Battier need to do."
With his awkward-looking dribble and less-than-perfect shooting form, Carrawell will be the first to admit he's not a traditional scorer. And he's not likely to break Langdon's three-point records any time soon.
But if there's one thing he has proven in three years, it's that, sooner or later, Chris Carrawell will find a new way to beat you. And that's all he really cares about.
"It's easy when you're up 25 to get your numbers," Carrawell said. "But can you play when you're down two with a couple minutes to play? Who responds in those situations?
"Nobody knows the outcome. Last year they knew, or they thought they knew, and it still didn't happen. This year nobody knows the outcome and I think that's better."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.