Durham celebrates national championship

The city of Durham celebrated the men's basketball team's accomplishments at the American Tobacco Campus Tuesday.

The event featured speeches from head coach Mike Krzyzewski, President Richard Brodhead and senior captain Quinn Cook. The speakers discussed special moments in the basketball team’s journey to its fifth national title and thanked the Durham community for its continued support of Duke.

“This is a truly magical season with an incredible group of guys and I hope you enjoyed the journey with us," Krzyzewski said.

Krzyzewski then shifted his focus to acknowledging his championship team's success despite the challenges they encountered this past season.

“When I say the word amazing, I can’t help but think of our guys. To go through our schedule and win 35 games was absolutely incredible,” Krzyzewski said. “I thought as the [NCAA] tournament went along we were the best team in the country.”

Although he lauded each of his players’ unique strengths, Krzyzewski noted that the influences of senior leadership and freshman determination were key to the Blue Devils’ success this season. In particular, he acknowledged Cook and freshman Grayson Allen, whose 16 points in the national title game were crucial to Duke's comeback victory.

“I said [to Cook], ‘I want you to take on a role that you don’t think you should have, but will be the most important role on the team—to be a leader to the freshmen and help them feel comfortable on the court,’” Krzyzewski said. “You, my son, were the guy.”

Krzyzewski gave similar praise to Allen, who seemingly saved his best game of the year for last.

“One of the great plays that will go down in the history of the NCAA is the play Grayson made [against Wisconsin] to get a loose ball. It would have made the guys who drive in NASCAR proud,” Krzyzewski said. “He looked at the bench and said ‘Let’s go!’ and it was like a chain reaction. And then we won.”

Cook then offered a few words to the gathered crowd. The captain emphasized that the Blue Devils achieved their goal of hanging a fifth national championship banner in Cameron Indoor Stadium, but that the team approached the pursuit of the national title as an opportunity to enjoy a unique experience together.

“After we won the national championship, I went up to Coach K and said ‘That’s five,’ and he said, ‘No, that’s one for us,'" Cook said.

After cracking a few jokes to the crowd, Brodhead shared “one of the great Coach K quotes.”

"'Well you’re a teacher, Dick. And you know that when you have great kids, they bring the best out of you as a teacher,'" Brodhead noted.

As the ceremony came to a close, Krzyzewski thanked his team for giving him such a memorable season.

“This has been my most joyful season, whether we won the national championship or not,” Krzyzewski said.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Durham celebrates national championship” on social media.