Top 5 Shots in Duke History

[dukeballer2294]

Today in the LA times the featured article on the sports page was the top 5 shots in Lakers history(because of Fisher's heroics in game 3). So i got to thinking what are Dukes most famous shots? Since I am a younger fan I was wondering if you guys could give some input on what you guys think.

5. Jeff Caple's Half court shot 1995: It was a great shot to send the game into ovetime and would be number 2 if we won the game.

4. Gene Banks' turnaround game tying shot at the buzzer 1981: Against unc, wouldve won the game if there had been a 3point line... won the game in overtime.

3. Chris Duhons reverse layup with 2 seconds left: Drove the lenght of the court to be carolina at the dean dome.

2. Sean Dockery: My favorite Duke memory half court shot against VT.

1.Christian Laettner: Need I say more?

[rthomas]

I would submit that Hurley's three toward the end of the 91 semifinal game against UNLV was the biggest.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okNOOcPmnZM&feature=related

[Indoor66]

I would add Laetner's shot against UConn in the regional finals.

Also, all of Freddie Lind's shots against Carolina in THE game.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Terry Chili's FT's at the end of the Maryland home game in 1976. Well, they aren't big in the sense of championship games, but they were mighty important to a downtrodden team desperate for a big win!

[DU82]

Today in the LA times the featured article on the sports page was the top 5 shots in Lakers history(because of Fisher's heroics in game 3). So i got to thinking what are Dukes most famous shots? Since I am a younger fan I was wondering if you guys could give some input on what you guys think.

5. Jeff Caple's Half court shot 1995: It was a great shot to send the game into ovetime and would be number 2 if we won the game.

4. Gene Banks' turnaround game tying shot at the buzzer 1981: Against unc, wouldve won the game if there had been a 3point line... won the game in overtime.

3. Chris Duhons reverse layup with 2 seconds left: Drove the lenght of the court to be carolina at the dean dome.

2. Sean Dockery: My favorite Duke memory half court shot against VT.

1.Christian Laettner: Need I say more?

As somebody else already said, add Laettner's shot against UCon, and Hurley's three against UNLV, which has been described as the most important shot in Duke bball history -- without it, there's no first championship (in'91, at least), probably no second Laettner miracle, and no "dynasty".

While Dockery's shot was great, and answered VT's premature celebration, I don't think it ranks with the others. I'd probably also drop Duhon's from the top five (something has to go, and Capel's shot, even in a loss, is remembered more.)

(BTW, It didn't get quoted, but please update your signature lines to read TEN national championships. :-)

[sagegrouse]

2. Sean Dockery: My favorite Duke memory half court shot against VT.



My own favorite occurred in 1990 against Clemson in Cameron. Duke holds a narrow lead against Clemson (52-17!) with two seconds left in the 1st half. Duke has the ball under the Clemson basket and Dunleavy is waving his arms near halfcourt. He gets the pass and banks it in for a 55-17 lead.

C coach Larry Shyatt said after the game, "Well, we won the second half."

sagegrouse

[dukeballer2294]

As somebody else already said, add Laettner's shot against UCon, and Hurley's three against UNLV, which has been described as the most important shot in Duke bball history -- without it, there's no first championship (in'91, at least), probably no second Laettner miracle, and no "dynasty".

While Dockery's shot was great, and answered VT's premature celebration, I don't think it ranks with the others. I'd probably also drop Duhon's from the top five (something has to go, and Capel's shot, even in a loss, is remembered more.)

(BTW, It didn't get quoted, but please update your signature lines to read TEN national championships. :-)

Thanks for the update on my sig i totally forgot to change it and I was just stating 5 big 1s I wasnt making an official list ive only been a duke fan since 2000

[rthomas]

Battier's tip in against Arizona.

[sagegrouse]

My own favorite occurred in 1990 against Clemson in Cameron. Duke holds a narrow lead against Clemson (52-17!) with two seconds left in the 1st half.

Uhhh. That would be 2000. My error.

sagegrouse

[4decadedukie]

All great choices that bring back so many memories, to which I will add -- and, in fairness, I am not truly certain this meets top-five criteria -- James' last second tip in the 1991 ACC Semifinals (in Atlanta) against Maryland. Having beaten Maryland by the narrowest of margins, Duke devastated UNC the following day in the Finals, and then won the National Championship.

[sagegrouse]

James' last second tip in the 1991 ACC Semifinals (in Atlanta) against Maryland. .

Uhhh. How about 2001? Your error.

sagegrouse

[miramar]

Phil Henderson's in-your-face slam against Alonzo Mourning in the East Regional Finals. Georgetown had closed within 4 and Henderson's dunk took the wind out of their sails.

[4decadedukie]

Uhhh. How about 2001? Your error.

sagegrouse

You are obviously right; Nate’s wonderful, last second tip occurred in 2001, not 1991. I apologize for my sloppiness. Nevertheless, it was a fabulous ending to a crucial game where, at one point, Maryland was ahead by fourteen. I was in “rafter row” of Duke’s section in the Georgia Dome, and I have NEVER seen the fan-base so excited or involved.

[CameronBornAndBred]

They all look good. I could change Duhon's with Wojo running the length of the floor for a score in "2" seconds or so left in the game at State for the win. (Not sure of the year, 2001 maybe? Capped the miracle comeback with 10 down and a minute to go?) The refs were mostly to blame because they screwed the clock up, but we won. I loved watching that replay over and over.
I saw all of the shots in the first list, either live or on TV. (Banks and Capel live). I wonder if any of the old timers (I mean more experienced) know of any before Banks' that could be mentioned?

[jimsumner]

Wojo's buzzer-beater was at UVA in 1997. Chris Collins made a late shot to at State in '96 that helped end a long ACC losing streak. So, all three assistant coaches have signature buzzer-beaters.

I'm not about to try and rank top shots. Too many candidates. But you have to consider context. Capel's shot, as memorable as it was, was in a regular-season game and didn't lead to a win. NCAA Tournament games trump everything, ACC Tournament games trump everything but NCAAT games, and Carolina games trump everything else. IMO.

That said, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Robby West, 1972, v. UNC.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Wojo's buzzer-beater was at UVA in 1997. Chris Collins made a late shot to at State in '96 that helped end a long ACC losing streak. So, all three assistant coaches have signature buzzer-beaters.

While I don't remember the year, it definately was at State. I'm pretty sure it was 2001, I watched it when I lived in the mountains, and I was in Durham in '97. It was a full court run for a layup.

edit--Couldn't have been 2001, we beat the snot out of state both games. JS might be right, but I'd love it to have been vs. state :)

[jimsumner]

Inasmuch as Wojo graduated in 1998, I'm pretty certain you are misremembering this.

Duke beat State 70-55 at Raleigh in 1997 and 65-49 in 1998, so Wojo could not have won either game at the buzzer. Collins hit the game-winner in '96, although State had the final shot. State won in Raleigh in 1995.

The game I'm referencing was at Charlottesville in 1997. Virginia made a FT late. They had a sub ready to go in. The refs had been alerted but neglected to allow the sub. Duke inbounded quickly, the clock didn't start for several seconds, the horn was blowing. Absolute chaos.

Wojo rushed the ball upcourt. IIRC, he was fouled before he could make the lay-up but made the FTs after a lengthy delay. I can think of no other ACC game involving Wojo that comes close to the earlier reference.

But I guarantee you that Wojo never won a game at State at the buzzer.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Inasmuch as Wojo graduated in 1998, I'm pretty certain you are misremembering this.

I guarantee that you are correct. Sigh. Anyways, thanks very much for refreshing my memory much better, I believe I had Wojo crossed in my mind with Jason Williams and his magic at state. My memory assumed with Wojo getting all the way up the coart, he hit a shot to finish. Oh well. Both games were great wins, but no miracle shots.

[Cicero]

The game I'm referencing was at Charlottesville in 1997. Virginia made a FT late. They had a sub ready to go in. The refs had been alerted but neglected to allow the sub. Duke inbounded quickly, the clock didn't start for several seconds, the horn was blowing. Absolute chaos.

Wojo rushed the ball upcourt. IIRC, he was fouled before he could make the lay-up but made the FTs after a lengthy delay.

I remember that game--Rick Hartzell was the referee who failed to allow the substitution, and Norman Nolan was the player who fouled Wojo. The most amazing thing was that Wojo still made both free throws after a very long delay. Here's a Barry Jacobs article (http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/18/sports/errors-cast-a-cloud-over-acc-referees.html) that describes the controversial ending of that game.

[Tom B.]

I guarantee that you are correct. Sigh. Anyways, thanks very much for refreshing my memory much better, I believe I had Wojo crossed in my mind with Jason Williams and his magic at state. My memory assumed with Wojo getting all the way up the coart, he hit a shot to finish. Oh well. Both games were great wins, but no miracle shots.

I think you're getting several games crossed in your memory here. Any game involving Jason Williams and a "miracle comeback" from 10 down with a minute to go can only be a reference to the game at Maryland (not State) in 2001. Jason Williams did indeed lead a miracle comeback from 10 down with a minute to go in that game.... but, the game didn't end on a buzzer-beater, nor did it end on a full-court dash.

Jason Williams scored eight points in quick succession from the 1:00 mark to about the 0:45 mark (assisted in part by a turnover in the backcourt by Maryland's Drew Nicholas and two missed free throws, also by Drew Nicholas). Duke then got the ball back after another turnover by (guess who) Drew Nicholas, and Dunleavy had a three-pointer to put Duke ahead, but missed. Nate James was fouled on the rebound, though, and hit two free throws to tie it with about 18 or 20 seconds left on the clock. Maryland had a final possession and a chance to win in regulation, but Duke played excellent defense and Maryland could manage only an off-balance contested three-pointer from the deep corner at the buzzer, which missed. Duke jumped out to a quick lead in overtime on a three-pointer by Shane Battier (I think), and won without the need for any last-second heroics.

Later that season, Duke played Maryland in the 2001 ACC Tournament. That was another nail-biter, and it did include a dash by Jason Williams in the closing seconds, though he didn't score the game-winning points. With the clock ticking down, Williams pushed the ball upcourt, got into the lane and put up a shot. He missed, but Nate James tipped the ball in to give Duke a two-point lead. That didn't quite end the game, though. There were still a few seconds left, and Maryland had one more shot -- a half-court heave by Juan Dixon that almost went in (I think it hit off the back of the rim).

Duke was involved in another buzzer-beater in 2001 -- at Wake Forest. Again, Jason Williams had a role in the game-deciding play. Duke led by three late, but a Wake player (I forget who) hit a long three to tie it. There was still a little bit of time left, though, so Duke had one more possession. Williams penetrated and then kicked out to Chris Duhon on the wing, who faked, got his man in the air, drove into the lane and put up a floater that dropped through at the buzzer to give Duke the win.

The only game against State I can recall in even semi-recent memory that ended on anything close to a buzzer-beater was the one already mentioned -- the 1996 game in which Chris Collins hit a three-pointer with a few seconds left that bounced high and straight up off the rim, then bounced about three more times before trickling in. As jimsumner noted, State still had one more shot at the end to win it, but missed.

The game in which Wojo went the length of the floor in the closing seconds was the Rick Hartzell game at UVa in 1997. That game (and in particular, all of the confusion of those last few seconds) already been described by other posters in this thread. As they've noted, the game didn't end on a layup -- rather, Wojo was fouled and, after a lengthy delay, made both free throws with 0.7 seconds on the clock. UVa had a long heave at the buzzer that missed.

One other game involving a full-court dash by Wojo in the closing seconds was the game at Clemson in January of 1997. Clemson tied the game late, and Wojo pushed the ball up the floor and found Greg Newton wide open under the basket with a perfect pass, which Newton promptly fumbled out of bounds. The game went into overtime and Clemson won.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I think you're getting several games crossed in your memory here.
It wouldn't shock me. I'm practicing for being senile.

[Dukeford]

How about Henderson's length of the court layup in traffic against Belmont?

Obviously two days later against WVU it didn't matter.
But still.......to be seeded no. 2 and to lose to no. 15 Belmont, regardless of whether Belmont was underrated....now that would have been painful.....

[hurleyfor3]

*ahem*

[DukieBoy]

not really a top shot, but a memorable would be G last year against Belmont.

And i would add every shot in the miracle minute as one on my list.

1. Laettner v. UK
2. Capel
3. Laettner v. UConn
4. Hurley v. UNLV
5. Dockery Half court

[grossbus]

"I would submit that Hurley's three toward the end of the 91 semifinal game against UNLV was the biggest."

concur

i can still hear packer saying, "they don't need a three here."

boom!

before that shot i was telling myself they guys had played great. after that shot i knew we would win.

[rthomas]

"I would submit that Hurley's three toward the end of the 91 semifinal game against UNLV was the biggest."

concur

i can still hear packer saying, "they don't need a three here."

boom!

before that shot i was telling myself they guys had played great. after that shot i knew we would win.

That should be your sig.

[AtlDuke72]

I wonder if any of the old timers (I mean more experienced) know of any before Banks' that could be mentioned?

I qualify. How about Robbie West making a shot from the top of the key to beat the Heels in 1972 in Cameron. Carolina had Bob McAdoo , Dennis Wuycik, Bill Chamberlin, George Karl and others and our team was not very good even though Gary Melchionni was terrific.

[AtlDuke72]

I qualify. How about Robbie West making a shot from the top of the key to beat the Heels in 1972 in Cameron. Carolina had Bob McAdoo , Dennis Wuycik, Bill Chamberlin, George Karl and others and our team was not very good even though Gary Melchionni was terrific.

Oops, just saw that JimSumner already mentioned this on.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I wonder if any of the old timers (I mean more experienced) know of any before Banks' that could be mentioned?
I haven't tried to remember particular shots after watching Duke basketball for more than 50 years, but I would note that while Art Heyman and Jeff Mullins played, Duke seemed to be chewing up other teams so thoroughly that the other teams needed special shots just to have a chance against Duke.

[SoCalDukeFan]

But I loved Grant Hill's dunk against Kansas in the 1991 NC game.

Set the tone for Duke's first national championship.

SoCal

[jimsumner]

Speaking of Jeff Mullins, he made a running shot from mid-court just before haltime in Duke's 1964 NCAA Tournament win over Villanova. The shot gave Mullins 28 points at the half; he ended with 43, as Duke won 87-73.

Mullins also held "Nova's leading scorer Richie Moore to 8 points on 4-12 shooting. IMO, only Laettner's game v, Kentucky clearly trumps this as an individual game by a Duke player in the NCAAs. This performance should be legendary, at least among Duke fans.

Villanova was really good that year. Jim Washington, Wally Jones, and Bill Melchionni all started in the pros later on.

Attending this game in Reynolds Coliseum was Bill's younger brother Gary, who received his first exposure to Duke and to the state of North Carolina. When Villanova declined to offer Gary a scholarship, he had some useful reference points.

About that '72 UNC game. West made the huge shot but Richie O'Conner and Chris Redding led Duke with 24 points. But the big hero, IMO, was Alan Shaw, who held Mr. McAdoo to something like four points.

Another name not mentioned is Mike Gminski. He made late shots to beat Rhode Island in the 1978 NCAAs and Maryland in the 1980 ACC Tournament finals. Again, neither was a true buzzer-beater, as RIU and UMD both had the last shot. But if G doesn't make that shot against Rhode Island, then that whole '78 miracle doesn't happen.

[Grey Devil]

These requests for the old timers to share big shots they remember caused me to graze back through my cob-webby memories of Duke basketball games when I was a student to see if I could come up with one that I could contribute. And suddenly one jumped out at me, although it’s certainly not an important one -- as you will see if you read on – but it was a pretty amazing shot.

I was a freshman at Duke in the 67-68 academic year. Duke had recruited a pretty good freshman basketball class. It included Randy Denton, Rick Katherman, Dick DeVenzio (my avatar), and Brad Evans (a two-way athlete who would also play QB on the football team).

This was a few years before freshmen were allowed to play on the varsity, so instead there were freshman teams that played each other. (BTW, that restriction was only for football and basketball, I believe, as I competed, and lettered, as a freshman athlete in another sport.)

For the last game of the freshman basketball season that year, Duke travelled to Carolina. Upon the urging of others in my freshman dorm (this was when all freshmen males lived together in freshman-only dorms on West Campus , and all women lived together on East -- such a parochial time it was) a group of friends and I made the trip to Chapel Hill to root on our fellow classmates.

As usual the game with Carolina was intense, and as I recall (holy crud! it’s now 41 years later!) the score was either tied or Carolina was up by one with a Carolina player on the foul stripe with only seconds left to go in the game. It seemed that the Heels had the game locked up and many of my friends were ready to head back to dear ol’ Durm. However, being the eternal optimist for all things Duke even then, I told my friends that we could still win the game. In fact, I told them that Denton would rebound the Carolina missed free throw, output it quickly to DeVenzio and that Dick would heave it the length of the court to win the game. They all told me I was crazy, and frankly I didn’t believe it either but I wanted to stick around to see what would happen, rather than go back to campus and study (procrastinating was big then).

As it turned out, the free throw bounced off the rim, Denton quickly grabbed the ball and threw it to DeVenzio, who in a single motion took the pass and two-handed it about 3/4 to 2/3 of the length of the court. After the ball left his hands the buzzer went off. The buzzer stopped sounding while the ball was still in flight. The crowd went silent..... Then the ball went through the basket. The Carolina fans sat there in stunned silence and my buddies and I went crazy!!!

No, it wasn’t an important shot and certainly not one of Duke’s Top Five Shots, but it was an amazing shot, one that makes us all love the sport so much, and one that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Even now, in telling the story, I can’t believe it happened as I had predicted. It’s amazing how one’s memory fails, changes, and embellishes, as the years go by. But I am positive that Duke won the game. I’m also positive that DeVenzio won it. And I’m positive that I did make that prediction. I just feel fuzzy about the details. Did Denton really grab the rebound? What was the score? How many people actually witnessed it (in my memory not very many people were there)? So I’m hoping that someone here on the DBR can verify that is actually what happened. Maybe Jim Sumner? Or even Al Featherston, who was in the same freshman dorm with me that year....?? Anybody out there know about or remember this?

Grey Devil

[Cormac]

I just read this morning in one of the free DC papers that the floor panels where Laettner hit The Shot from failed to sell on Ebay. Apparently only one person bid the minimum ($2500). So if anyone wants the alleged panels, they may be up for sell again!

[jimsumner]

I believe the DeVenzio shot did win the game.

The story I heard is that freshman hoops was carried on the campus radio station. The announcer-Freddie Robertson--IIRC, absolutely lost it at this point, in language that simply wasn't acceptable in 1968. Still not, as a matter of fact, at least not on the radio.

So no more radio broadcasts.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I believe the DeVenzio shot did win the game.

The story I heard is that freshman hoops was carried on the campus radio station. The announcer-Freddie Robertson--IIRC, absolutely lost it at this point, in language that simply wasn't acceptable in 1968. Still not, as a matter of fact, at least not on the radio.

So no more radio broadcasts.
The times were very turbulent then...... wasn't that the year of The Vigil? All sorts of barriers, rules and authority figures were being challenged or ignored.

By the 1967-68 school year, Duke students had participated in sit ins and other forms of non violent protest for several years. When I interviewed for a teaching job in Durham about that time, I was asked whether I had participated in any of "those protests."

[DevilHorse]

I think it was Mike Dunleavy Jr.'s freshman year when he had the ball in the corner and put 3 consecutive moves on 3 different opponents (1. Behind the back dribble, 2. spin move, 3. reverse lay-up once he discovered he was beyond the front of the basket).

It didn't make a difference in the game, but putting those 3 moves together, in rapid sequence, before the shot, was a thing of beauty and portended nifty things to come.

If elongated sequences of moves become a category, JWills last Minute in Maryland will have to be one long great contribution.

Larry
DevilHorse

[Grey Devil]

Thanks for the confirmation, Jim. Nice to know that after alll these years my memory is still there.

And yes, Devil in the Blue Dress, those were very turbulent times. The spring of '68 was when students marched to the President's home and held a sit-in there, which I believe morphed into the Vigil with hundreds of students living on the Quad in front of the Chapel for a month or more (no tents like K-ville, though!). '69 was even more turbulent with the takeover of Allen Building, and the riot in the Main Quad, with state troopers wielding night sticks and tear gas filling the campus....very turbulent. Quite a time to be a Duke student. It was hard not to be touched in some way by "those protests."

Better stop there or this will get moved to the Public Policy Board....

Grey Devil

[killerleft]

I remember Duke games from the early sixties. Picking out five is extremely hard, but here goes:

1- Christian Laettner shot against Kentucky.
2- Gene Banks shot against UNC.
3- Bobby Hurley shot against UNLV.
4- Robby West shot against UNC.
5- Christian Laettner shot against Connecticut.

Capel's shot vs. UNC, Henderson's dunk vs. G'town & Alonzo, Duhon's layup vs. UNC, Dawkins' free throws vs. GT in ACC Final, and more come to mind.

[chrishoke]

Speaking of Jeff Mullins, he made a running shot from mid-court just before haltime in Duke's 1964 NCAA Tournament win over Villanova. The shot gave Mullins 28 points at the half; he ended with 43, as Duke won 87-73.

Mullins also held "Nova's leading scorer Richie Moore to 8 points on 4-12 shooting. IMO, only Laettner's game v, Kentucky clearly trumps this as an individual game by a Duke player in the NCAAs. This performance should be legendary, at least among Duke fans.

Villanova was really good that year. Jim Washington, Wally Jones, and Bill Melchionni all started in the pros later on.

Attending this game in Reynolds Coliseum was Bill's younger brother Gary, who received his first exposure to Duke and to the state of North Carolina. When Villanova declined to offer Gary a scholarship, he had some useful reference points.

About that '72 UNC game. West made the huge shot but Richie O'Conner and Chris Redding led Duke with 24 points. But the big hero, IMO, was Alan Shaw, who held Mr. McAdoo to something like four points.

Another name not mentioned is Mike Gminski. He made late shots to beat Rhode Island in the 1978 NCAAs and Maryland in the 1980 ACC Tournament finals. Again, neither was a true buzzer-beater, as RIU and UMD both had the last shot. But if G doesn't make that shot against Rhode Island, then that whole '78 miracle doesn't happen.

My dad took me to that game in Reynolds - I was 9 -Mullins is still at the top of my list. I was also at the Robbie West game - wasn 't that when they named the stadium "Cameron?"

[DeepBlue70]

These requests for the old timers to share big shots they remember caused me to graze back through my cob-webby memories of Duke basketball games when I was a student to see if I could come up with one that I could contribute. And suddenly one jumped out at me, although it’s certainly not an important one -- as you will see if you read on – but it was a pretty amazing shot.

I was a freshman at Duke in the 67-68 academic year. Duke had recruited a pretty good freshman basketball class. It included Randy Denton, Rick Katherman, Dick DeVenzio (my avatar), and Brad Evans (a two-way athlete who would also play QB on the football team).

This was a few years before freshmen were allowed to play on the varsity, so instead there were freshman teams that played each other. (BTW, that restriction was only for football and basketball, I believe, as I competed, and lettered, as a freshman athlete in another sport.)

For the last game of the freshman basketball season that year, Duke travelled to Carolina. Upon the urging of others in my freshman dorm (this was when all freshmen males lived together in freshman-only dorms on West Campus , and all women lived together on East -- such a parochial time it was) a group of friends and I made the trip to Chapel Hill to root on our fellow classmates.

As usual the game with Carolina was intense, and as I recall (holy crud! it’s now 41 years later!) the score was either tied or Carolina was up by one with a Carolina player on the foul stripe with only seconds left to go in the game. It seemed that the Heels had the game locked up and many of my friends were ready to head back to dear ol’ Durm. However, being the eternal optimist for all things Duke even then, I told my friends that we could still win the game. In fact, I told them that Denton would rebound the Carolina missed free throw, output it quickly to DeVenzio and that Dick would heave it the length of the court to win the game. They all told me I was crazy, and frankly I didn’t believe it either but I wanted to stick around to see what would happen, rather than go back to campus and study (procrastinating was big then).

As it turned out, the free throw bounced off the rim, Denton quickly grabbed the ball and threw it to DeVenzio, who in a single motion took the pass and two-handed it about 3/4 to 2/3 of the length of the court. After the ball left his hands the buzzer went off. The buzzer stopped sounding while the ball was still in flight. The crowd went silent..... Then the ball went through the basket. The Carolina fans sat there in stunned silence and my buddies and I went crazy!!!

No, it wasn’t an important shot and certainly not one of Duke’s Top Five Shots, but it was an amazing shot, one that makes us all love the sport so much, and one that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Even now, in telling the story, I can’t believe it happened as I had predicted. It’s amazing how one’s memory fails, changes, and embellishes, as the years go by. But I am positive that Duke won the game. I’m also positive that DeVenzio won it. And I’m positive that I did make that prediction. I just feel fuzzy about the details. Did Denton really grab the rebound? What was the score? How many people actually witnessed it (in my memory not very many people were there)? So I’m hoping that someone here on the DBR can verify that is actually what happened. Maybe Jim Sumner? Or even Al Featherston, who was in the same freshman dorm with me that year....?? Anybody out there know about or remember this?

Grey Devil

Gosh, thanks for recalling that game. What a great memory. I was there too, in the old Carmichael. Both Denton and Freddy were fraternity brothers of mine. We never let Freddy forget his over-the-top enthusiastic freudian slip.

[jimsumner]

Speaking of Freddie, I seem to recall that he was head cheer-leader when I was matriculating.

Yes, that makes me feel old. Duke used to have male cheerleaders. Yes, kids, I'm serious.

[Hancock 4 Duke]

What about Ricky Price's last second shot vs Maryland in the 90's?

[jimsumner]

1996 in College Park. And, inasmuch as it secured an NCAA bid, it was an important shot.

It also was the last game an injury-racked Duke team won that season.

Good call.

[Grey Devil]

Gosh, thanks for recalling that game. What a great memory. I was there too, in the old Carmichael. Both Denton and Freddy were fraternity brothers of mine. We never let Freddy forget his over-the-top enthusiastic freudian slip.

Guess I don't remember, or didn't know about, any Freudian slip by Freddy. (And, BTW, which Freddy are we talking about?)

Grey Devil

[DeepBlue70]

Sorry, for my poor choice of words. It was not a freudian slip but a full blown series of exultant expletives uttered on the Duke radio station by student announcer Freddie Robertson after DeVenzio hit the heave that beat the UNC frosh at the buzzer. As Sumner alluded to in an earlier post, Freddie was also a pretty well known Duke cheerleader and all around good guy. I have never known anyone more enthusiastic about Duke sports than Freddie.

[jimsumner]

Freddie also perfected the parlor trick of lying flat on his back and managing to get both legs behind his head. I once saw him make a basket at Cameron in this posture.

Can't remember if it was pre-game or halftime. But trust me, if you were there, the image would be burned into your brain.

[Grey Devil]

Yes, I have vivid memories of Freddie doing that "parlor trick" during half time of home games. (I think he did it more than once.) It was always quite amazing. I think there's even a picture in one of the yearbooks from that era of him doing it...

Grey Devil

[hq2]

Having been a Duke fan nearly 45 years, I'd have to go with Killer five's picks also. Laettner's shot was the most memorable, but Hurley's was more important; the entire history of Duke basketball is divided into two eras by that shot. When it went in, and I knew Duke was going to win the game, (and therefore the national championship, since they weren't losing to Kansas after that) I felt like I'd been hit by lightning.

But for pure emotional impact, Gene's was the best. To come out, throw roses to the crowd, and then hit the shot at his last home game against Carolina, (and it was a miracle shot too, one he might have hit one out of ten times, maybe) well, it was totally unbelievable. People who were at that game will still state that that was the highest (non family- related) emotional moment of their whole lives. It was my senior year in college, and it was to me an incredible ending to that era. I've never forgotten it.

[jimsumner]

"but Hurley's was more important; the entire history of Duke basketball is divided into two eras by that shot. When it went in, and I knew Duke was going to win the game, (and therefore the national championship, since they weren't losing to Kansas after that) I felt like I'd been hit by lightning."

Just curious but why is Hurley's three-pointer more important than Brian Davis' base-line drive and one that actually gave Duke the lead? Or am I
misremembering?

[hq2]

Because that was the whole game. If Hurley had missed that shot, long rebound Vegas, dunk, Vegas by seven with less than two to go, Duke panics, puts up a bad shot, game over.

Instead, it was now Vegas by only two, a close game, and they hadn't been in one all year. Vegas panicked, missed their next shot, and Duke came down and tied it, and without Greg Anthony in the game, Vegas had no idea what to do. But that three pointer was the decisive shot. Before it went in, I was just glad that Duke had kept it close (as opposed to the previous year's humiliation). After it went in, I knew they would win the game.

[jimsumner]

I didn't "know" Duke was going to win until the last UNLV shot clanged off the rim and even then I wasn't sure. :)

[Indoor66]

I didn't "know" Duke was going to win until the last UNLV shot clanged off the rim and even then I wasn't sure. :)

I'm with you Jim. Every time I watch my tape of that game I tense up when Vegas is making that last play - until it clangs off! :eek:

[Tom B.]

Instead, it was now Vegas by only two, a close game, and they hadn't been in one all year. Vegas panicked, missed their next shot, and Duke came down and tied it, and without Greg Anthony in the game, Vegas had no idea what to do.

(Emphasis mine.)

A couple of corrections....

Actually, Vegas didn't miss their shot on the next possession after the Hurley three-pointer -- because they didn't even take a shot on the next possession. In one of the most clutch defensive possessions ever, Duke forced the high-flying, triple-digit-scoring, opponent-destroying Runnin' Rebels into a 47-second shot clock violation. It was their first shot clock violation of the entire season.

Why 47 seconds? First, because the shot clock back then was 45 seconds, not the current 35. And second, the rules back then said that if the defense knocked the ball out of bounds with less than five seconds on the shot clock, it would be reset to five seconds. On that particular UNLV possession, Duke knocked the ball out of bounds with three seconds left on the shot clock, so UNLV got two free extra seconds on the reset -- and they still couldn't get a shot off. (Grant Hill actually almost stole the inbounds pass near midcourt, and by the time Stacy Augmon secured possession and figured out what was going on, the shot clock had expired.)

For some, the Hurley three-pointer was when they "knew" Duke would win the game. For me, though, I think it was the UNLV shot clock violation. That's when you could see them start to panic. With the game close and Greg Anthony having fouled out, they just didn't know what to do.

And Duke didn't tie the game on its ensuing possession -- it actually took the lead on a three-point play by Brian Davis. UNLV then tied it on a free throw by Larry Johnson (he actually missed both of his free throw attempts, but a lane violation by Thomas Hill on the second attempt gave him a do-over), which set up Duke's final possession and Laettner's two free throws with 12.7 seconds left that gave Duke the lead and, ultimately, the game.