Originally Posted by
Olympic Fan
The first time I ever saw an ACC basketball game in person was the 1960 ACC Tournament semifinals -- when Carroll Yougkin scored 30 to lead Duke to a monumental upset of top-seeded North Carolina (with Moe, Larese and Shaffer). The next night, Doug Kistler was the star as Duke stunned No. 2 seed (and regular season co-champion) Wake Forest (with Len Chappell and Billy Packer).
Although Youngkin and Kistler got the headlines, it was Howard Hurt who caught my eye. I'm like JVOO1 -- Hurt became my first favorite player -- No. 21.
We should take note -- this season is the 50th anniversary of that triumph ... Duke's first ACC championship. We should celebrate it.
Interesting (in view of some recent debates) that the 1960 triumph came because first-year coach Vic Bubas changed his lineup to go small. The 6-3 Hurt had been playing guard, but for the tournament, Bubas moved him to forward and played a backcourt of 5-9 Johnny Frye and 5-11 Jack Mullen (a Navy veteran who was somewhat older than his teammates).
The 6-9 Kistler and 6-6 Youngkin joined Hurt in the starting lineup. The next year, Art Heyman joined the team and took Mullen's spot in the lineup (he funked out at midseason anyway). Bubas started four seniors and a sophomore as Duke finished in the top 10 for the first time.
I later got to know Doug Kistler when he coached at Durham's Jordan High School -- leading the Falcons to the 1968 state championship. His best player off that team, Stu Yarbrough, went to Duke and ended up marrying one of Bubas' daughters.
I met Howard Hurt a couple of times ... he became a very successful prep coach at Enloe High School in Raleigh, where he mentored future Duke big man Randy Denton (still the most underrated player in Duke history).
Glad to see that things are still going well for my first favorite Duke basketball player.