For a number of years now, fans at the ACC Tournament from all teams have referred to the four-day event as The Duke Invitational.
The Blue Devils have earned the half-sarcastic, half-laudatory namesake with their recent dominance of the event. Duke has won seven of the last eight ACC Tournaments, and 23 of 24 tournament games.
And while the Blue Devils are not the favorite in their own classic this year, no one is counting them out. Four of the seven titles-including the one two seasons ago in Washington, D.C.-in the stretch have come in years when Duke was not the top seed.
"You don't inherit any of that," sophomore Josh McRoberts said. "That's something that each individual team has done in their year and their opportunity. Winning the ACC, or having success in the conference or in the tournament-that's not something that's inherited. That's something you have to earn."
While there is no direct carry-over to this team, the Blue Devils do have some players who have had previous success in the ACC Tournament. Last year, it served as a coming-out party for McRoberts, who had averaged just 8.1 points in the regular season but put up 13 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in the ACC Tournament. Greg Paulus was also effective in his first tourney, registering 12 assists to only three turnovers in the three games.
In 2005, Dave McClure entered the tournament having only played 3.5 minutes per game in the final four contests of the regular season after returning from a knee injury. In the quarterfinal matchup against Virginia, McClure broke out for nine points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.
"While it does give us confidence that some of us have been there before and done it, we know it's not just going to be given to us," McRoberts said.
In addition to players with positive experiences, Duke of course has a coaching staff that knows a thing or two about winning in the conference tournament. Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski has won 10 ACC Championships in his tenure, and with this group of assistants, Duke is 17-1 in the tourney.
"Our coaching staff and this program have been used to really dominating in the tournament, and their experience-knowing how to win and knowing to prepare to win-has been big," junior DeMarcus Nelson said. "I don't think that will change this year. Our coaches will get us prepared to do well in both our conference tournament and the NCAA Tournament. And for us players, we have to follow their lead."
And now this Duke team is more than ready to take advantage of the opportunity to make its mark in the record books.
"It's March," Nelson said. "It's the time of year where champions are made."
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