DBP looks back at some of the decade’s most memorable quotes
10 Coach K Quotes to Remember
“I told my guys we weren’t calling any more plays. ‘I said, just go down and follow your instincts and let’s be men. Let’s be the team we’ve been all year long and let’s play defense.’ And they followed their instincts.” On the record comeback against Maryland in the 2001 Final Four (Duke trailed by 22)
“Shane has won more than anybody I’ve coached (or that anyone has coached!). There’s a reason for that. And the reason is he throws himself completely into it. He gives you a consistently high level of performance and makes sure the people around him are doing the same. I’m going to really miss coaching that kid. It was the way it should be. It was like a storybook. I wasn’t the main character, but I’m glad I was in the book.” On winning the NCAA title with Shane Battier
“Look, if you believe in what I say, if you do everything I ask you to do, we will win the national championship. Do you understand that? If you do everything I say, we are going to win the national championship. I promise you.” From a team meeting after the Maryland loss in 2001 when Carlos Boozer suffered a broken foot
“I hope that all of those youngsters who have played for me and the people who have worked with me will share in this honor. My mom always told me to associate myself with great people and great institutions. I’ve tried to do that at the United States Military Academy and at Duke University, two of the great institutions in the world. As a result, I’ve been around some amazing people.” From his Basketball Hall of Fame induction
“I tell our kids it’s OK to be nervous. Being nervous means it still means something to you, that you care. I’m not excited about the record. I’m excited about coaching my kids another game. It’s what my kids deserve. I’m very fortunate. What others think doesn’t bother me. I’ve been in places where everyone booed me, but then I walk out of my house.” After becoming the winningest coach in NCAA Tournament history
“I try to coach every game like it’s the most important game and the first one that I’ve coached. I guess there’s nerves involved but every game’s important for me. Quite frankly every play’s important to me. I think if you lose that then you’re not going to have a chance to be as good as you can be. I’m asking the same thing of my players. I better ask the same thing of myself.” During the 2006 season
“I remember that night we went to a small restaurant, more like a fast-food place. And I remember a bunch of people around, drinking some iced tea and sodas, and somebody said, ‘Well here’s to forgetting about tonight.’ And I said, ‘No no, here’s to never forgetting about tonight. Because this is a reference point. In order to appreciate where we’re going to be, we have to know how this felt, how losing felt.’” Looking back after a 43-point, season-ending loss to Virginia in 1983
“You have to follow your heart and lead with it and Duke has always taken up my whole heart. No matter how good another option sounds, leading Duke with my whole heart, could only happen at this place. I love my university. I love Duke. Duke is a great, great school, it will always be a great school. I’ll wear my Duke stuff every day. I’m proud of being the Duke coach, being the Duke coach has given me more than I could ever give to Duke.” After receiving a lucrative contract offer from the Lakers
“When you’re that scorer, you’re marked, and in our league, you’re usually marked by athletes — guys who are big — and you’re not only being played by them, but you’re double-teamed by another athlete. In a league like ours, for him to do what he has done is truly amazing, and it shows a toughness and a physical conditioning and mental toughness — that combination that are at the highest level. He’s playing defense too. We’re not going back in a zone and hiding him, so he has to be in incredible shape.” After JJ Redick became Duke’s all-time leading scorer
“We look in their eyes and tell them the truth, which is where we’re at right now. Cry. Shed a few tears. Get an IV, and let’s go. No excuses and let’s go. That’s what our program is founded on. That’s the only way you can have sustained excellence. If you look and say, ‘Are we happy now that we’ve won? Are we sad now that we’ve lost?’ then that’s who you’ll be. We just have to be, ‘Next game. Let’s go. No excuses.’ That’s what our program is founded on. We do whatever we can. We’re not going to punt, let’s put it that way.” During the 2007 season
“This is going to be a matter of collective responsibility. We will win and lose together and we will put together a team that represents our country the best it can on and off the court. It’s our game and it’s time to reclaim it.” After being named the first-ever U.S. National Head Coach
Top 10 Quotes about the Blue Devils
“Duke is the Yankees. Duke is the Soviet hockey team, pre-Miracle on Ice. Duke is the Roman army. The British navy. The Ming Dynasty. Duke is a meteor that always comes back, and the cloud that never stops raining. Duke is the flu in winter and weeds in summer. Duke is Jell-O and Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. Duke is a given. Duke will be in the Final Four. Which is almost like saying a basketball will be in the Final Four. The Age of Duke dawned in 1986, with some Polish guy from Chicago in charge. Since then, the sun has never really set on the Duke Empire…” USA Today’s Mike Lopresti
“Duke is on TV more than ‘Leave It to Beaver’ re-runs.” Former Virginia Coach Pete Gillen
“Love them or hate them, there’s no escaping the Duke Blue Devils. Like the New York Yankees, Manchester United or Tiger Woods, the Blue Devils define an entire sport, no matter who holds the championship trophy in a given year… The winning, the slapping the court, the graduating … it’s what college basketball should be in this day and age of big money and loose morals.” ESPN.com
“Year after year, Duke does seem to be led by ‘the Duke kid,’ some rare mix of brains and brawn and courage and courtesy, a Superman who holds the door for old ladies, a lab tech with a jump shot. Don’t get me wrong. Other schools have their own versions of this player. But Duke seems to find them year after year. It is more than coincidence that connects Danny Ferry to Christian Laettner to Bobby Hurley to Grant Hill to Shane Battier to Jason Williams. It’s character.“ ESPN columnist/author Mitch Albom
“It’s almost like a shadow in the back of your mind. You’re like ‘Dang, shadow, go away!’ But it’s always there. Duke’s always there.” Former Maryland player Byron Mouton
“This is an entire team that plays like they live on Park Avenue but they refuse to give up the court on West Fourth Street. West Fourth Street’s a pretty darn competitive park, and it’s asphalt, and these guys aren’t afraid of getting their knees bloody and their fingers stuck in the chain rims. And that’s what makes them so special.” Davidson Head Coach Bob McKillop
“History matters when it comes to the Duke Way. What’s more, when your program’s achievements include three national titles and 10 Final Fours in the last 19 years, you can access a vast bank of historical precedents to illuminate any present-day challenge.” Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl
“I just met with some ESPN executives. Part of the discussion was what a plus it is in the ratings when Duke is on the air. People want to watch Duke. People want to see them — whether they root for them or not. They’re like Notre Dame in football, the Yankees in baseball: people either love them or hate them because of what they’ve achieved. They are very popular on ESPN. It is even easy to make a case for the Blue Devils as America’s team, based on cable ratings.” ESPN’s Dick Vitale
“The love-hate relationship with Duke among national fans is alive and well. But the one constant is the respect for what Krzyzewski has been able to accomplish since taking over the program. Duke has been to 22 NCAA Tournaments since 1984. The Blue Devils have won three national titles and have been to 10 Final Fours, and they are on a current run of nine straight Sweet 16 appearances. Krzyzewski has built one of the most impressive programs in NCAA history. Duke’s home games are events, and Cameron is arguably the toughest home court in the country. The Blue Devils have their pick of high school All-Americans every year. They produce national player of the year candidates. When Duke plays on the road, the Blue Devils are the biggest draw on every other schedule. No other school can sell out Madison Square Garden or the Meadowlands or places out West other than Duke, regardless of the opponent. The Blue Devils are a happening every season, and it all started with Krzyzewski.” ESPN’s Andy Katz
“You can mix unlimited academic expectations with unlimited winning. That’s what Coach K has proven at Duke. But… maybe what says it best is this: Isn’t Duke where you would want your son to play?” USA Today
10 True Blue Quotes by Duke Players
“It’s not like Coach K comes up with an intricate system, like everybody thinks. We don’t run a lot of plays; it’s pretty simple. We just have standards here. It’s attitude and effort that makes Duke great.” J.J. Redick
“I watched the last four years on TV and I didn’t get to experience it in person, but it’s a huge honor to carry on the tradition of guys like Elton Brand and Shane Battier and Jason Williams. That’s why a lot of us came to Duke, to play in great games, to get to the Final Four and to play for championships.” J.J. Redick, after leading Duke to a fifth straight ACC Tournament title in 2003
“We had a blast at Duke. We won, we played games, we worked hard. We won a national championship. For me, it was everything any kid that wanted to go to college to play basketball could dream of.” Carlos Boozer
“What matters is that Duke believes in Duke. We all believe that in every single game, when we step on the court, that we can win, and that’s our mindset. That’s what makes Duke special.” DeMarcus Nelson
“Every team wants to knock us off. We’re not going to let that happen. We enjoy being on top, and we want to stay on top. We’re going to fight for every inch. Being Duke puts a mark on our back. We have to be prepared for every game and be ready to go to battle.” Chris Duhon
“People say a lot about making shots or missing shots or how many points you score. I consider myself to have a great game if I do the things to help my team win and that doesn’t necessarily mean making or missing shots. If I play great defense, if I rebound, I know I’m helping my team win ballgames. That’s the bottom line.” Shane Battier
“Growing up, when I first got exposed to watching basketball on TV, Duke was always the team that I watched. Once I started playing, I used to think to myself that when I practiced, I was practicing to be a Blue Devil. I just love Coach K and the Duke program; they recruit good people and have good people around the program, which is something I really admire.” Kyle Singler
“Duke doesn’t recruit just anybody. They go after certain guys, Duke guys. We’re all Duke guys, and proud of that.” Lance Thomas
“Duke makes you always want to give your best. If you look around everything you see just shouts victory.” Dave McClure
“Anytime you wear Duke across your chest, you’re always going to have a bull’s-eye on your back. It’s something the old guys are accustomed to, and something the young guys will get accustomed to.” Shelden Williams
“When you think about Duke, you think about all the great players, the great games, the great shots. I brought my parents downstairs to the basement right after that Duke/Kentucky game. My dad was Grant Hill in-bounding the ball, and I was Christian Laettner. My mom, uhh…she was Kentucky.” Jon Scheyer
Tags: "Duke's Decade"
