Duke legend to be enshrined in 2010 College Basketball Hall of Fame class
Christian Laettner headlines a list of eight individuals set to be enshrined in the College Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2010 class as announced this week. The 1992 Duke graduate becomes the fifth person with Duke ties to enter the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, joining Vic Bubas, Lefty Driesell, Dick Groat and Coach K. The 2010 induction ceremony will be held on Nov. 21 at the College Basketball Experience and the Midland Theatre in Kansas City, MO. Laettner is joined in the 2010 class by Wayne Duke (contributor), Tom Jernstedt (contributor), David Thompson (N.C. State), Jerry West (West Virginia), Davey Whitney (coach), Sidney Wicks (UCLA) and Tex Winter (coach).
Arguably the greatest NCAA Tournament performer in history, Laettner led Duke to the Final Four all four years of his Duke career, including NCAA titles in 1991 and 1992. The Duke jersey retiree was named 1992 National Player of the Year and his 2,460 points and 1,149 rebounds rank third in school history. His many other accolades include three All-America selections, and the New York native was also a Final Four MVP, two-time ACC Athlete of the Year, three-time All-ACC, ACC Player of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP, and NCAA Tournament Regional MVP.
The third pick of the 1992 draft played 13 seasons in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat. He was also a member of the Dream Team that went on to win the gold medal in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Around four months before winning gold, Laettner capped off an epic NCAA Tournament career with an NCAA title his senior year. He remains the NCAA Tournament’s all-time leader in points and games played, and no has ever played better on college basketball’s biggest stage.
Christian’s Top NCAA Tournament Games
1. 1992 Regional Final: Duke vs. Kentucky (31 pts, 7 rebs, 10-10 FG, 10-10 FT)… In the greatest college game ever, Christian never missed a shot and hit THE SHOT to propel Duke to the Final Four his senior year, 104-103 in overtime.
2. 1991 National Semifinal: Duke vs. UNLV (28 points, 7 rebs, 9-14 FG, 9-11 FT)… No one gave Duke a chance against defending champion and undefeated UNLV, but the Blue Devils showed up ready to play. Christian led the way for Duke with 28 points as the Blue Devils won 79-77, advancing to the NCAA title game (where they eventually won the first national title in school history).
3. 1990 Regional Final: Duke vs. Connecticut (23 pts, 5 rebs, 7-8 FG, 9-11 FG)… Christian pushed Duke past UConn and capped a 23-point outing with a buzzer-beater that gave the Devils a 79-78 victory in OT.
4. 1989 Regional Final: Duke vs. Georgetown (24 pts, 9 rebs, 9-10 FG, 6-7 FT)… Undaunted by Georgetown star Alonzo Mourning, Christian announced his presence on the Big Dance scene by scoring 24 points and hauling in nine boards as a freshman. Duke won 85-77 to advance to the Final Four.
5. 1991 Regional Final: Duke vs. St. John’s (19 points, 5 rebs, 5-6 FG, 9-9 FT)… Christian owned the Elite Eight, leading Duke to a 4-0 record while averaging 24.3 PPG. During his junior year, Laettner scored 19 points and grabbed five boards as Duke rumbled past St. John’s, 78-61.
Five More to Remember…
6. 1990 Sweet 16: Duke vs. UCLA (24 pts, 14 rebs, 8-12 FG, 8-8 FT)… Duke wins 90-81.
7. 1990 National Semifinal: Duke vs. Arkansas (19 points, 14 rebs, 5-7 FG, 9-12 FT)… Duke wins 97-83.
8. 1991 National Championship Game: Duke vs. Kansas (18 pts, 10 rebs, 3-8 FG, 12-12 FT)… Duke wins 72-65.
9. 1992 National Championship Game: Duke vs. Michigan (19 pts, 7 rebs, 6-13 FG, 5-6 FT)… Duke wins 71-51.
10. 1991 Sweet 16: Duke vs. Connecticut (19 pts, 4 rebs, 7-13 FG, 5-7 FT)… Duke wins 81-67.
DID YOU KNOW? In his four Elite Eight games, Christian was 31-for-34 (.912) from the floor and 34-for-37 from the foul line (.918). Two of his 34 field goals were buzzer-beaters where Duke trailed and the season was on the line. You probably remember this one and will be reminded of it again in a few weeks…
Duke extends NCAA-best non-conference home win streak to 77 with win over Tulsa
In Pictures — Game Gallery
Top Plays
Turning Point
With the score tied at 34 a minute into the second half, a Brian Zoubek layup ignited an 18-3 Duke run. The Blue Devils led by double digits the rest of the way.
Blue Devil Ballers
Nolan Smith scored 19 points, Kyle Singler added 18 and Zoubs recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.
Duke Data
16-0 — Duke’s home record in 2009-10, matching the Cameron record for most wins in a single season
41 — Consecutive home wins against unranked opponents by Duke
10 — Teams this season that Duke has limited to under 20% shooting from 3-point range (Tulsa was 1-of-10 from downtown)
15.3 — Offensive rebounds per game by Duke on the year, on pace for a school record (Duke had 18 offensive boards against Tulsa)
Coach K’s Comments
“We won a hard-fought game tonight. We knew that it would be that way when we scheduled the game … Tulsa’s had a great tradition of basketball for decades really. They’ve been one of the really good programs in the United States and a who’s who of coaches – the head coaches there. They got down a little bit and Doug [Wojcik], over the time that he’s been there, has really done a great job. I find it hard to say that for a Navy guy, but he’s done a great job … And his kids play hard. Those kids won 25 games a season the last two years. They’ll have a great shot in their conference tournament. The kid, [Ben] Uzoh is a big-time player. Anybody in our league would love to have that kid. That’s why he’s, I think he’s the third-leading scorer in the history of their school. Anybody in our league would like to have [Jerome] Jordan, I’ll tell you that . And their other kids play hard – [Justin] Hurtt – I like their team. I thought they outscrapped us in the first half. I thought we thought we were going to be able to knock them out, and they’re not a team that’s going to get knocked out. And then we kind of rushed everything. We looked rushed in the first half. And in the second half, we tried to play more of a half court game. And I thought we played with a lot of poise and we played great defense in the second half … Brian [Zoubek] and Lance [Thomas] were all over the boards. The second half we dominated the boards because I think they outrebounded us in the first half. In the second half, we were all over the boards, and those two kids had double-figure rebounds. Our bench helped us a lot in the second half. It was a hard, well-earned win for us.”
Locker Room Reaction
Jon Scheyer on playing a non-league game during the heart of ACC season: “This is our second to last home game. We just want to make the most of it and we were really excited to play. It is a little bit of an adjustment, because you are just used to how intense and how much ACC games mean, but this meant a lot to us in our second to last home game, we don’t want to lose at home. So, that was something for us going into this game.”
Sixth Man
Zoubs had another outstanding performance and the Crazies sincerely enjoyed it (as seen here, here, here, and here!). It was Senior Night in Cameron for students with the soon-to-be graduates enjoying their second-to-last home game as students (but not as Crazies).
Around the Web
Box score — Stat recap
AP recap — Duke pushes past Tulsa
Quotes — Coach and player comments
Tulsa enters Devils’ lair — Golden Hurricane excited about playing in Cameron
Notes
*Dr. Art Chandler, the public address announcer in Cameron for the past 40 years, was honored at halftime with a video message from Coach K and a Duke rocking chair. He will be retiring after our final home game of the year on March 6th against UNC.
*Next up: Duke hits the road and returns to ACC action on Sunday at Virginia (7:45 PM on Fox Sports Net).
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All Duke Students Invited to K Center for 8 PM Meeting with Coach K on Wednesday
UPDATE: Photo Gallery from the Team Meeting
With only two home games left and the regular season winding down, Coach K has called a team meeting on Wednesday with his Sixth Man in the Krzyzewski Center. All Duke students (undergrad and graduate students) are invited and encouraged to attend. The meeting will give the Crazies a chance to check out our practice facility while Coach K discusses the team, the Tulsa game and some of the ways the coaching staff prepares the team for games. The meeting will last approximately one hour and several motivational videos (previously only seen by our players and staff) will be shown.
To enter the Krzyzewski Center and attend the meeting, please head to the front of Cameron on the K-Ville side and use the door to the Hall of Fame in the Schwartz-Butters Center. We look forward to seeing as many Crazies as possible on Wednesday night!
Here’s the video invitation and update from Coach K:
Crazies Kick Off White Tenting with Race to Secret Location
The next round of tenting season for the Crazies (White Tenting) kicked off tonight at 9 PM as the K-Ville population continues to grow in advance of our March 6th rivalry game against UNC. Since a number of tent groups are pitching their respective tents on the same day, the Crazies race to a secret spot to determine tent order. That spot is revealed here on DukeBluePlanet.com by guard Nolan Smith…
Late surge pushes Duke past Hokies as Devils win ACC dogfight in Cameron
In Pictures — Game Gallery
Top Plays
Turning Point
With the score tied at 47 with 8:42 left, the Blue Devils went on a 14-4 run sparked by a pair of Nolan Smith free throws and a three-point play by Zoubs.
Blue Devil Ballers
Kyle Singler recorded a second consecutive double-double with 25 points and 10 boards, Nolan Smith scored 23 points, and Brian Zoubek hauled in 16 boards (including eight on the offensive glass).
Duke Data
14-2 — Duke’s record in the past 16 games against the Hokies
27 — Second-chance points scored by Duke in the game, compared to nine by Virginia Tech
15 — Wins in Cameron this season for Duke, marking the ninth time in school history that the Blue Devils have won at least 15 games at home
10 — Three-pointers in the game by Duke (while limiting to Virginia Tech to 2-of-15 shooting from three-point range)
12.7 — Rebounding average by Brian Zoubek in the three recent games he has started for Duke (along with 9.7 PPG in the three starts)
Coach K’s Comments
“Well it is a really big win for us. They are very, very good. Both teams play outstanding defense, so it’s tough to get good looks. We shot 29 percent, I think they shot 32 percent. It’s tough to come by. I thought it was a heck of a game. Even when you got an open look, you were looking to see if someone was going to come there and challenge your shot, because we got some really … some open looks. And we could just not shoot well. You have them for just that instant and then they go away. But then down the stretch, our guys hit everything. When [Virginia Tech] took the lead, [Malcolm] Delaney got that three to go up 45-44, our guys showed a lot of character in winning this ball game. Zoubek’s three-point play was huge. It gave us a five-point lead and then we hit a three at eight points … it just gave us that separation. Then we went up 11 on another three. Our defense was outstanding at the end. We didn’t make any turnovers, so we handled the end of game situation very well. Zoubek getting 16 rebounds is fantastic. He was just so hungry on the boards. Singler played a great game. Defensively, 25 [points] and 10 [rebounds] and some of his offensive rebounds that turned into buckets were huge plays in this game. As you go through a game like this, when buckets are hard to come by and all of the sudden Kyle just getting an offense board and willing it in the basket, you know Kyle is playing very well right now. He has played pretty good all year but he is playing really well right now. I mean we scored 67 points and we hit a three at the end, so it’s like mid-60s and they are mid-50s and Kyle has 25 and 10. That is a heck of a performance.”
Locker Room Reaction
It was another big game for Zoubs as the senior grabbed 16 points and had a key three-point play in the second half that pushed Duke ahead to stay. Said Nolan, “Brian’s been making so many plays for us like that. When he makes those plays, it really gives us a lift and that’s what happened from that play. We really got going. He’s just playing tremendous basketball.” Added Kyle, “Defensively and offensively, he’s been huge for us. He’s kind of our glue guy. He sets great screens for us. Defensively, he’s a big body and rebounds, and he’s very valuable for us.”
Sixth Man
The Crazies seemed to be hoping for a Thanksgiving-style feast in February (as seen here and here). Also, this mini Blue Devil got his own chant from the Crazies (”AWESOME DEVIL”) and was recognized by the full-sized, official Blue Devil.
Around the Web
Box score — Stat recap
AP recap — Duke drops Virginia Tech
Triple threat — Singler, Smith, Scheyer lead Duke to victory
Devils do enough — Rebounding, defense key in win
Notes
*Next up: Duke takes a break from ACC play with a home matchup Thursday against C-USA foe Tulsa (7:00, ESPN2).
Fave Photo
