Duke Blue Planet BLOG

The Blue Devils had some extra time on their hands Wednesday with a three-and-a-half hour bus ride to Virginia Tech ahead.  To pass the time, the Duke coaching staff decided to provide a history lesson to everyone on board, playing highlights from Duke games of the past along with other videos shown to Blue Devil teams throughout the years.

As the videos played, Coach K discussed some of the stories behind them, from the 2001 team’s resilience after Carlos Boozer went down with a foot injury to freshman Luol Deng’s willingness to do the dirty work in 2003-04 to the 2010 seniors finishing their career with a national title after losing in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament as freshmen, to Shane Battier, Nate James and Chris Carrawell taking ownership of their team in 1999-00 after four players left for the NBA, and more.

The clips and stories told weren’t about winning as much as an emphasis on the shared enthusiasm, pride and toughness that have defined Duke’s great teams and the program overall.  Coach K talked about taking ownership, paying a price and sharing the journey.  With the ride falling on what would have been the 100th birthday of his late mother Emily, Coach K also talked about his mom and her unwavering spirit and pride.  The Hall of Famer said his biggest hope for his former players is that they leave Duke as men with a great understanding and appreciation of those values.

The history lesson seemed to help, as the Blue Devils played one of their most complete games of the year and won as a team at Virginia Tech.  “It was a long bus ride up here,” Austin Rivers said after the win.  ”Ten years from now, we want teams to watch videos of us.”

To celebrate its 35 years as one of the marquee high school basketball events, the McDonald’s All-American game announced it’s top 35 players all-time.  Four Blue Devils made the list — Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill and Jason Williams.

Duke has had 52 McDonald’s All-Americans all-time, including an NCAA-best 25 since 2000.  The ACC dominated the group announced as the greatest ever, with 13 selections (eight more than any conference).

After the team’s shoot-around at Maryland, Duke players were excited to see the new Hyper Elite Platinum jerseys for the first time.  Nike had just unveiled new uniform sets for seven men’s teams including the Blue Devils’ new blue and grey warmups, jerseys, shorts and shoes.  The team will wear the uniforms one time, on February 11th, when Maryland visits Cameron.

Here’s more info:

“Specially designed for Duke men’s basketball and eight other NCAA Championship teams, Nike unveiled its new Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms that the Blue Devils will wear during their Feb. 11 showdown against Maryland in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke will be one of seven men’s teams in the nation to wear the high-performance, low-environmental impact gear. As the latest and most innovative fit system, the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform is designed at the intersection of sustainability and performance. The uniforms are specially designed for nine NCAA Championship teams that won their national titles wearing Nike footwear and apparel.

The fabric of the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum shorts is made from 100 percent recycled polyester while the jersey’s fabric is made from at least 96 percent recycled polyester. Both short and jersey are tailored for the optimal efficiency of movement and are five percent lighter than the previous Nike Hyper Elite uniform. Featuring laser-cut bonded logos, a sharp platinum design as well as prominent accent colors, the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms are sure to shine on the court.

“Nike is committed to producing top-of-the-line performance attire with reduced sacrifice to the environment,” said Phil Cook, Nike’s Brand Manager for Basketball. “With our Nike Hyper Elite Platinum design, Nike is maintaining its long-standing obligations to our fans to not only produce the best on-court looks but also a design that makes use of the resources we already have.”

Other teams scheduled to wear the uniforms include The University of Arizona, Baylor University (women’s), University of Florida, University of Kentucky, Syracuse University, The University of Connecticut (men’s and women’s) and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In 2011, Nike affirmed its commitment to increasing its use of more sustainable materials by doubling its use of recycled polyester, using approximately 440 million PET plastic bottles, enough to cover over 12,000 basketball courts, and 2012 will build off of those successes.

The short includes laser perforations in side panels for increased breathability while featuring a lightweight 4-way stretch woven design. The bonded hem detailing found on the short and the bonded back seam near the neckline on the jersey enhances both comfort and style. Additionally, the front of the jersey features a lightweight Nike Sphere fabric, while the back includes a full Nike Aerographics back panel.

The uniforms will hit the hardwood beginning late-January for some of oldest and strongest rivalries in college basketball.”

Coach K shared thoughtful remarks on the late Coach Joe Paterno in an ESPN interview yesterday, discussing Coach Paterno’s life, legacy and time they shared this summer during their TV special.

The Blue Devils climbed to No. 4 in this week’s AP poll, marking an ACC-record 85th straight poll in which Duke has been ranked in the Top 10.  The stretch of Top 10 rankings dates all the way back to Nov. 26th, when Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler were early in their freshman years.

During the 1,515 consecutive days that Duke has been ranked in the Top 10, some big things have happened:

*Duke won the national championship (2010)

*Duke won three ACC Tournament titles (2009, 2010, 2011) and one ACC regular-season title (2010)

*Duke reached the No. 1 ranking in three different seasons (2009, 2010, 2011)

*Coach K became the all-time winningest head coach in Division I men’s history

*Duke won four straight pre-conference tournaments (Duke’s first of five in a row in Maui in 2007 pushed Duke to the Top 10 to start the streak

All-Time ACC Schools – Consecutive AP Top 10 Appearances
1. Duke: 85 (2007-present)
2. Duke: 75 (1961-66)
3. Duke: 69 (1991-94)
4. Maryland: 68 (1972-76)
5. Duke: 67 (1999-2003)