The Chronicle’s website includes daily coverage of Duke Athletics dating back all the way to 2001. Let’s take a look through the archives to find interesting events and articles that premiered during the week of Sept. 1-7 over the last two decades.
2002: Students carry goal posts to Chapel after Duke football’s 1st win since 1999
Back in 2002—the year that some current students were born—the Duke football team won its first game of the new millennium, breaking a 23-game losing streak. Excited doesn’t even begin to describe the reaction of the fans at the victory. Students flooded the field at Wallace Wade Stadium and immediately tore down the goal posts, chanting “undefeated”—the Blue Devils were 1-0 following the win. Fans then carried the goal posts to new homes, including the Chapel. A piece making its way toward East Campus even had a police escort.
2017: Five-star Cameron Reddish becomes Duke's 2nd commit in the Class of 2018
This week in 2017, five-star Cam Reddish announced his commitment to Duke. He became the second member of the Blue Devils’ 2018 recruiting class, joining Tre Jones. At the time, the former Mr. Pennsylvania Basketball had just come off an exemplary performance at the FIBA U19 World Cup and averaged 22.6 points per game at the Nike EYBL earlier that summer. Although his lone college season proved inconsistent, he would occasionally show those same flashes of potential during his time in Durham. Reddish scored 22 points in Duke’s memorable season-opening win against Kentucky, and over 36 career college games averaged 13.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per contest. After Duke was eliminated in the Elite Eight, Reddish declared for the 2019 NBA Draft and was drafted 10th overall by the Atlanta Hawks, joining teammates Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett as the final Blue Devil selected in the top-10.
2014: Irving, Plumlee flourish in Spain during FIBA World Cup
The 2014 FIBA World Cup finished its knockout round during this week six years ago. Led by head coach Mike Krzyzewski, Team USA dominated in group play, defeating its opponents by an average of 33.2 points. Leading the team in minutes at the time was former Blue Devil Kyrie Irving. Irving deftly controlled the flow of the game and even anchored the team on the defensive end. Joining the star point guard was another Duke product: Mason Plumlee. Though Plumlee had the least minutes of any member on Team USA at the time, he was able to provide some quick scoring off the bench. Team USA ultimately went undefeated in the tournament, with Irving winning MVP honors.
2011: Duke women’s soccer stumbles in SEC doubleheader
Back in 2011, following a huge win against No. 1 Notre Dame just a few days prior, the No. 5 Duke womens’ soccer team had a disappointing doubleheader against two unranked foes in Auburn and Ole Miss. After losing to Auburn 1-0, the Blue Devils barely eked out a 1-0 win against Ole Miss. While fans were initially frustrated with the disappointing showing after displaying so much potential the week prior, head coach Robbie Church did not echo that same sentiment. He had faith in the team and commended the performances of some freshmen who stepped up in big ways. As it turned out, Church was right not to be worried. The Blue Devils learned from their shortcomings in this early-season tournament, finishing the season 22-4-2 and barely losing to Stanford 1-0 in the NCAA College Cup final.
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Sasha Richie is a Trinity senior and a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 118th volume.