In the 100th year of Duke Basketball, one day shy of the 65th birthday of Cameron Indoor Stadium, the giants of the program and the building returned to the court.E
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Nearly 100 players, coaches and trainers were announced and greeted with a standing ovation from the 9,314 fans in attendance Jan. 5. Among those in attendance were Chuck Holley--a participant in the first game played in Cameron Indoor Stadium Jan. 6, 1940--and other Duke greats, like Jeff Mullins, Art Heyman and Gene Banks.E
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The list of guests included Blue Devils who played under every head coach from Eddie Cameron in the 1940"s to current head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Former head coaches Vic Bubas and Bill Foster--each of whom led the Blue Devils to a Final Four--were also in attendance.E
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The Blue Devils celebrated the anniversaries with a 59-46 victory over Princeton. The showdown between the two teams was a rematch of Cameron Indoor Stadium"s first game, a 36-27 Duke win. The teams" tough defense and shaky shooting threatened to reproduce the score from that first game--Princeton recorded just 18 first-half points, only two more than in the 1940 game--but the Tigers" 28-point second half eliminated that possibility. E
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Though Krzyzewski missed the halftime festivities, the head coach had celebrated a milestone of his own less than a month before. Krzyzewski notched his 700th career win in an 82-54 victory over Toledo Dec. 12, 2004. Krzyzewski, 57, became the second-youngest of the 17 coaches to reach the benchmark.E
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'Mike Krzyzewski has become the most dominant coaching force in all of college basketball,' ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale said. 'The numbers don"t shock me, and they will continue to grow as he is a complete leader in every way. He is a master motivator, teacher, communicator and genuine, solid-gold Hall of Famer.'E
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With two historic events occurring so close together, Blue Devils players were offered an opportunity to reflect on what it meant to play basketball for Duke.E
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'It just gives you an amazing feeling, it just makes you want to play out there like a maniac because Duke has an unbelievable, storied history and basketball program,' said forward Lee Melchionni, son of former Duke captain Gary. 'To have guys come back and watch you--you know, my dad played here, so it"s a tremendous feeling.'
The Blue Devils wore white jerseys and shorts with blue trim and '100 Years of Duke Basketball' patches on their left shoulders for the 100th anniversary celebration. The uniforms were described as throwbacks but were not assigned to a specific year.
'The uniforms were good, but I wanted to wear the short shorts,' Krzyzewski joked.E
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