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TKG
04-16-2018, 04:43 PM
The Raleigh N&O is reporting that Vic Bubas has passed away at 91.

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/duke-now/article209040969.html

Bob Green
04-16-2018, 04:46 PM
Vic Bubas passes at age 91:

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/duke-now/article209040969.html


The Blue Devils' coach from 1959-69, Bubas led Duke to four ACC tournament championships, including the school's first in 1960. He coached the Blue Devils to the NCAA tournament's Final Four in 1963, 1964 and 1966. He finished with a 213-67 record, a .761 winning percentage, at Duke.

Rest in Peace, Coach Bubas.

HereBeforeCoachK
04-16-2018, 04:47 PM
Vic Bubas passes at age 91:

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/duke-now/article209040969.html



Rest in Peace, Coach Bubas.

The real beginning of Duke excellence in basketball - that was recognized on a national scale....

chrishoke
04-16-2018, 04:55 PM
Those were some great Duke teams in the 60's. RIP Coach.

chrishoke
04-16-2018, 05:03 PM
Hard to believe he had Chuck Daley and Hubie Brown on his staff at the time. Wow.

Indoor66
04-16-2018, 05:14 PM
Vic was one of the finest gentlemen that I ever had the pleasure to know. A truly good man. There is a special place in heaven for people like him and his wife, Tootie. Rest in peace old friend. I hope I meet with you again

OZZIE4DUKE
04-16-2018, 05:18 PM
Hard to believe he had Chuck Daley and Hubie Brown on his staff at the time. Wow.
Rest in peace, Coach. Condolences to daughter Vicki and the rest of the family.

As for the quote above, some day, far in the future I hope, we'll say something like "Hard to believe he had Chris Collins, Steve Wojo, Jeff Capel, Jon Scheyer and all the rest on his staff (tho not all at the same time).:cool:

sagegrouse
04-16-2018, 05:27 PM
Rest in peace, Coach. Condolences to daughter Vicki and the rest of the family.

As for the quote above, some day, far in the future I hope, we'll say something like "Hard to believe he had Chris Collins, Steve Wojo, Jeff Capel, Jon Scheyer and all the rest on his staff (tho not all at the same time).:cool:

Bubas was only 32 when named the Duke coach by Eddie Cameron.

He told the story of playing in the first game ever at Reynolds Coliseum and crashing the boards in an attempt to score the first basket. I can't remember if he succeeded.

wsb3
04-16-2018, 06:41 PM
Recently I was asked if I was a Duke fan before Coach K..My response was..I was a fan when Vic Bubas was coach.

Fond memories of those childhood times..
RIP Coach..

dpslaw
04-16-2018, 06:55 PM
Bubas still holds the record for highest winning percentage in ACC tournament play at 22-6 (.786).

Aladuke
04-16-2018, 07:07 PM
My first Duke basketball memory was attending the 1960 ACC tournament.
What an introduction! RIP coach. Duke's expectations for success began with you.

accfanfrom1970
04-16-2018, 07:13 PM
I am honored I got to meet him after a reunion event in Cameron, what a kind gentleman to a stranger. And an autograph to boot. Huge fan from their NBA days of Mullins and Marin. RIP.

Tommac
04-16-2018, 07:34 PM
That 1966 team was the year I started following Duke basketball as an elementary school student. Bob Verga, #11, was my favorite Duke player for years. Thanks Coach Bubas.

SF Dukie
04-16-2018, 09:05 PM
I went to school with Vikki, I can't remember if it was at Duke Preschool or kindergarten, and I vaguely remember carpooling with the Bubas's. My first Duke basketball memory was watching them lose to UCLA in the 1964 NCAA final on a black and white TV.

HereBeforeCoachK
04-16-2018, 10:13 PM
Hard to believe he had Chuck Daley and Hubie Brown on his staff at the time. Wow.

Ain't it duh truth....one of the all time great coaching staffs anywhere at any level.

bigperm13
04-16-2018, 10:23 PM
RIP Coach Bubas

indy1duke
04-16-2018, 10:24 PM
I was fortunate to have experienced Vic’s last two years as Duke’s Head Coach. I didn’t really know him, but I experienced the magic of our big victory over Davidson and Lefty in Cameron, Indoor Stadium as it was called back then, only to be followed up in the last game of the year against UNC, back before they resorted to cheating, the famous triple overtime game with Freddy Lind being the storybook hero. I was hooked. i got to meet all three of Vic’s daughters.

I got to hear one of Vic’s pep talks which was recorded surreptitiously by one of the players during his last year. It may have been the home SC game. I remember being mesmerized by his speech and apparently so was the team since we played well and dispatched the hated Gamecocks.

I never heard a disparaging word about Vic Bubas. May he Rest In Peace.

Newton_14
04-16-2018, 10:25 PM
RIP Coach Bubas! It really is a shame that Bubas didn't remain as Duke's Head Coach until the torch was passed to one Coach K. Had that happened the history of Duke Basketball would be even greater than it is. Perhaps significantly better. Perhaps the dominance of Dean'sMyth in the 70's would not have been quite so dominant. Perhaps not even dominant at all. We were blessed to have had him for the brief time that we did.

A sad time for the program and university.

msdukie
04-16-2018, 11:19 PM
Bubas was only 32 when named the Duke coach by Eddie Cameron.

He told the story of playing in the first game ever at Reynolds Coliseum and crashing the boards in an attempt to score the first basket. I can't remember if he succeeded.

He did.

wsb3
04-17-2018, 08:22 AM
I went to school with Vikki, I can't remember if it was at Duke Preschool or kindergarten, and I vaguely remember carpooling with the Bubas's. My first Duke basketball memory was watching them lose to UCLA in the 1964 NCAA final on a black and white TV.

That was the first year I remember following & loving Duke basketball. I loved Jeff Mullins...As a small child I remember shedding a few tears over the 1964 Final to UCLA.

Spanarkel
04-17-2018, 09:15 AM
RIP, Coach Bubas. Had forgotten that he and Norm Sloan were '51 NCSU grads, though Sloan only played football his senior year due to disputes about playing time with Everett Case.

Atldukie79
04-17-2018, 09:20 AM
Born to a Duke grad mother and raised in Durham, I was always a Duke fan and Vic Bubas was the coach as I became aware of Duke basketball. I can't remember the exact moment. Perhaps Duke- Michigan (with Cazzie Russell) in 1964. Certainly by the time the 1966 team with Verga was dominating, I was hooked. Bubas was an icon to the few Brogden Jr High School Duke fans, surrounded by UNC and State fans, in Durham. His daughter Vicki was a student teacher in my classroom. She was awesome.

I always regretted seeing Bubas leave Duke. He was the man. Thanks for all you did for Duke basketball. RIP coach Bubas.

jv001
04-17-2018, 10:15 AM
When Coach Bubas took the head coaching job at Duke, I was hooked. A Duke fan for life. I had followed Duke basketball but not with the fire that came from Coach's teams. What a coach and what a great man. Prayers for the family and may God bless. GoDuke!

Devil in the Blue Dress
04-17-2018, 10:37 AM
Vic Bubas took what he learned from Everett Case (the old gray fox) and built on it to create a dynamic program. He set up recruiting assignments based on geographic areas which others then copied. The organization of his practices was also innovative and copied by others....much as Wallace Wade had done in football decades earlier. Coach Bubas was a major influence in the development of the pep band and the choreography the cheerleaders created for various popular songs, many of which are still played today.

gwncnc
04-17-2018, 04:52 PM
Does anyone remember the story of him making the first basket in the new arena of an opposing team?

Devilwin
04-17-2018, 07:07 PM
One good thing about being an older Duke fan.. You recall names like Bubas, Lewis, Verga, Mullins, Marin, Vacendak, and Heyman. Rest in peace Coach.

devildeac
04-17-2018, 07:18 PM
One good thing about being an older Duke fan.. You recall names like Bubas, Lewis, Verga, Mullins, Marin, Vacendak, and Heyman. Rest in peace Coach.


I can do better/older than that. I remember seeing Moses when he played for Duke. Gave the original meaning to "stones."

(well, sort of)

RIP, Coach.

sagegrouse
04-17-2018, 10:33 PM
Does anyone remember the story of him making the first basket in the new arena of an opposing team?

I believe it was a home game -- the first at Reynolds.

Newton_14
04-17-2018, 10:44 PM
I can do better/older than that. I remember seeing Moses when he played for Duke. Gave the original meaning to "stones."

(well, sort of)

RIP, Coach.
Aaron was his coach on the floor doing all the talking and Joshua was the star OAD for Duke....

But back to seriousness, the young members/fans here should google Bubas and learn about his career. Like I said last night, had he coached long enough to hand the reins over to K the 70's ACC would have been very different in my opinion. Oly (Yes you should comeback and start posting again) and Jim could probably speak to that hypothetical than me.

HereBeforeCoachK
04-18-2018, 08:29 AM
But back to seriousness, the young members/fans here should google Bubas and learn about his career. Like I said last night, had he coached long enough to hand the reins over to K the 70's ACC would have been very different in my opinion. Oly (Yes you should comeback and start posting again) and Jim could probably speak to that hypothetical than me.

Interesting hypothetical, and as someone who is just old enough to have started paying attention about the time Bucky and McGeachy let the program go downhill. I knew of the Bubas success, but was not old enough to remember, enjoy, follow it. For some bizarre reason, I still rembmer an SI article about Duke's rise in 1978 as the revival of a once great program - meaning of course the Bubas teams. SI was the major force in sports media at the time, and one of the very few national sports organizations.

So I think the best of the Bill Foster teams were critical to Duke's reputation, and having two coaches bring prominence, instead of one, I think helped the overall reputation. Had Bubas stayed, and Duke remained a top program (no guarantees Bubas does that) - then I don't think Tom Butters would've taken a chance on the young coach from Army. (Foster leaving Duke for South Carolina (can you imagine that today) kind of cast a pall over the reputation I think.)

All intersting hypotheticals to chat about.

And FTR, I cut my teeth on Duke hoops under Waters, McGeachy and Fosters struggling years...then after a rise under Foster, Duke struggled under K for a while. No one can accuse me of being a bandwagon guy. My first ten years of fandom were mostly painful, especially given what my State and Carolina fan friends were enjoying.

hallcity
04-18-2018, 09:14 AM
Interesting hypothetical, and as someone who is just old enough to have started paying attention about the time Bucky and McGeachy let the program go downhill. I knew of the Bubas success, but was not old enough to remember, enjoy, follow it. For some bizarre reason, I still rembmer an SI article about Duke's rise in 1978 as the revival of a once great program - meaning of course the Bubas teams. SI was the major force in sports media at the time, and one of the very few national sports organizations.

So I think the best of the Bill Foster teams were critical to Duke's reputation, and having two coaches bring prominence, instead of one, I think helped the overall reputation. Had Bubas stayed, and Duke remained a top program (no guarantees Bubas does that) - then I don't think Tom Butters would've taken a chance on the young coach from Army. (Foster leaving Duke for South Carolina (can you imagine that today) kind of cast a pall over the reputation I think.)

All intersting hypotheticals to chat about.

And FTR, I cut my teeth on Duke hoops under Waters, McGeachy and Fosters struggling years...then after a rise under Foster, Duke struggled under K for a while. No one can accuse me of being a bandwagon guy. My first ten years of fandom were mostly painful, especially given what my State and Carolina fan friends were enjoying.

The rumor, perhaps conjecture, at the time Bubas left was that he didn't feel that he would be able to continue winning in the post-Texas Western era. If you remember Texas Western, an all-African-American team beat an all-white Kentucky team to win the 1966 NCAA Championship. After that game, the writing was on the wall that you weren't going to win without recruiting African-American players. At the time most thought that Duke wouldn't be able to recruit African-American players because of academics and, perhaps, its location in the South. Obviously, that turned out to be wrong but that's what many people thought at the time. There was also the problem that Dean Smith, who was an early and enthusiastic promoter of civil rights at a time when few whites in the South were, had gotten the jump on the ACC in recruiting African-American players. Whatever you think of Smith otherwise, he certainly deserves credit for this.

I think that one way or another Duke was going to experience some dislocation in its basketball program in the post-Texas Western world regardless of who the head coach was. Too much adjustment, mostly in attitudes, was required.

HereBeforeCoachK
04-18-2018, 09:16 AM
The rumor, perhaps conjecture, at the time Bubas left was that he didn't feel that he would be able to continue winning in the post-Texas Western era. If you remember Texas Western, an all-African-American team beat an all-white Kentucky team to win the 1966 NCAA Championship. After that game, the writing was on the wall that you weren't going to win without recruiting African-American players. At the time most thought that Duke wouldn't be able to recruit African-American players because of academics and, perhaps, its location in the South. Obviously, that turned out to be wrong but that's what many people thought at the time. There was also the problem that Dean Smith, who was an early and enthusiastic promoter of civil rights at a time when few whites in the South were, had gotten the jump on the ACC in recruiting African-American players. Whatever you think of Smith otherwise, he certainly deserves credit for this.

I think that one way or another Duke was going to experience some dislocation in its basketball program in the post-Texas Western world regardless of who the head coach was. Too much adjustment, mostly in attitudes, was required.

Outstanding perspective and context! You may be onto something....and I only remember Texas Western from the movie. Which is odd, because I remember something about Cole Field House hosting the NCAA....but didn't associate it with the bigger story of Texas Western. Again, great post.

chrishoke
04-18-2018, 09:38 AM
Vic Bubas took what he learned from Everett Case (the old gray fox) and built on it to create a dynamic program. He set up recruiting assignments based on geographic areas which others then copied. The organization of his practices was also innovative and copied by others...much as Wallace Wade had done in football decades earlier. Coach Bubas was a major influence in the development of the pep band and the choreography the cheerleaders created for various popular songs, many of which are still played today.

And don't forget the Mongoose!

Indoor66
04-18-2018, 09:41 AM
The rumor, perhaps conjecture, at the time Bubas left was that he didn't feel that he would be able to continue winning in the post-Texas Western era. If you remember Texas Western, an all-African-American team beat an all-white Kentucky team to win the 1966 NCAA Championship. After that game, the writing was on the wall that you weren't going to win without recruiting African-American players. At the time most thought that Duke wouldn't be able to recruit African-American players because of academics and, perhaps, its location in the South. Obviously, that turned out to be wrong but that's what many people thought at the time. There was also the problem that Dean Smith, who was an early and enthusiastic promoter of civil rights at a time when few whites in the South were, had gotten the jump on the ACC in recruiting African-American players. Whatever you think of Smith otherwise, he certainly deserves credit for this.

I think that one way or another Duke was going to experience some dislocation in its basketball program in the post-Texas Western world regardless of who the head coach was. Too much adjustment, mostly in attitudes, was required.

The adjustment was not about racial issues; it was about the cultural change to the society taking place in the 60's. If you did not live it it is hard to comprehend. Vic was the product of a different era. Dealing with young people of that era changed dramatically after the mid 1960's.

HereBeforeCoachK
04-18-2018, 09:57 AM
Vic Bubas took what he learned from Everett Case (the old gray fox) and built on it to create a dynamic program. He set up recruiting assignments based on geographic areas which others then copied. The organization of his practices was also innovative and copied by others...much as Wallace Wade had done in football decades earlier. Coach Bubas was a major influence in the development of the pep band and the choreography the cheerleaders created for various popular songs, many of which are still played today.

Great history insights...and FTR, I think the Duke pep band and "Devil with the Blue Dress" is an integral part of Duke hoops....and I had no idea that Bubas was that forward thinking on stuff like that.

Devil in the Blue Dress
04-18-2018, 10:49 AM
Great history insights...and FTR, I think the Duke pep band and "Devil with the Blue Dress" is an integral part of Duke hoops...and I had no idea that Bubas was that forward thinking on stuff like that.
I was there. My father, a Duke grad, began to take me to games when Coach Bubas first arrived .... tickets were $2.50. I was an undergraduate four of the last six years he coached. My work for the Chanticleer gave me opportunities to learn about a lot of back stories.

jv001
04-18-2018, 11:10 AM
The adjustment was not about racial issues; it was about the cultural change to the society taking place in the 60's. If you did not live it it is hard to comprehend. Vic was the product of a different era. Dealing with young people of that era changed dramatically after the mid 1960's.

This ^! I lived it and it sounds like you did as well. No comments are best served here on the EK basketball board. Maybe later on the Off-Topic board. Let's just say it was like you posted. It was a different era. Really different.

Coach Bubas was an honorable man. A gentleman. RIP. GoDuke!

sagegrouse
04-18-2018, 11:36 AM
The rumor, perhaps conjecture, at the time Bubas left was that he didn't feel that he would be able to continue winning in the post-Texas Western era. If you remember Texas Western, an all-African-American team beat an all-white Kentucky team to win the 1966 NCAA Championship. After that game, the writing was on the wall that you weren't going to win without recruiting African-American players. At the time most thought that Duke wouldn't be able to recruit African-American players because of academics and, perhaps, its location in the South. Obviously, that turned out to be wrong but that's what many people thought at the time. There was also the problem that Dean Smith, who was an early and enthusiastic promoter of civil rights at a time when few whites in the South were, had gotten the jump on the ACC in recruiting African-American players. Whatever you think of Smith otherwise, he certainly deserves credit for this.

I think that one way or another Duke was going to experience some dislocation in its basketball program in the post-Texas Western world regardless of who the head coach was. Too much adjustment, mostly in attitudes, was required.

Not exactly. There has been a lot written on DBR. Smith's and UNC's recruiting of black players began with Charlie Scott, who was Class of 1970. From Wikipedia --


Scott played college basketball at the University of North Carolina, where he was the first black scholarship athlete. Scott averaged 22.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game at UNC, and a career-best 27.1 points per game in his senior season.[1] He was a two-time All-American and a three-time all-ACC selection.[3] Scott led the Tar Heels to their second and third consecutive NCAA Final Four appearances in 1968 and 1969.

Other schools in the ACC, including Duke, were well ahead of UNC. And, don't worry, you aren't the first person to fall for the UNC propaganda.

gotoguy
04-18-2018, 02:10 PM
Outstanding perspective and context! You may be onto something...and I only remember Texas Western from the movie. Which is odd, because I remember something about Cole Field House hosting the NCAA...but didn't associate it with the bigger story of Texas Western. Again, great post.


Coach Bubas witnessed that change firsthand in the 1963 final four when the Blue Devils lost to Loyola of Chicago by 20 in the semi-'s. Loyola fielding for black starters at that time.

sagegrouse
04-18-2018, 02:17 PM
Coach Bubas witnessed that change firsthand in the 1963 final four when the Blue Devils lost to Loyola of Chicago by 20 in the semi-'s. Loyola fielding for black starters at that time.

There are some really sketchy comments in a thread that should be honoring Vic Bubas. He coached Duke for ten years, had a lot of success, and decided he didn't want to coach any more. As far as I know, he never gave any of the reasons being alluded to here.

Devil in the Blue Dress
04-18-2018, 03:29 PM
There are some really sketchy comments in a thread that should be honoring Vic Bubas. He coached Duke for ten years, had a lot of success, and decided he didn't want to coach any more. As far as I know, he never gave any of the reasons being alluded to here.
I concur. Speculation about why people lived their lives as they did is a waste of time and a harmful way to remember someone who made major contributions on and off the court.

Devilwin
04-18-2018, 06:23 PM
And don't forget the Mongoose!

I recall the "Mongoose". An answer to Dean's vaunted "4 Corners".

hallcity
04-18-2018, 07:15 PM
I recall the "Mongoose". An answer to Dean's vaunted "4 Corners".

The mongoose was Bucky Waters, not Bubas.

WakeDevil
04-18-2018, 09:08 PM
He was tired of the hassle. His last team won 15 games. He also told K not to let the UNC rivalry dominate him.

His biggest blunder was that 12-10 loss to the crowd in Raleigh.

Reilly
04-18-2018, 09:23 PM
... As far as I know, he never gave any of the reasons being alluded to here.

Every edition of The Chronicle is available online: https://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/dukechronicle/

I tried to find coverage of Bubas announcing his retirement but did not have much luck. Some articles in February and March 1969 noting that it was his last year; one said he decided after the Feb 12, 1969 game against WFU (a big Duke win, I think), but no stories I found announcing his retirement or his thinking.

The Chronicle is a great time suck. Stories about Bucky and his 5-year, $16K/per contract to return from WVU. About hot young coach Hubie. About Enos and the baseball team ...

-jk
04-18-2018, 09:28 PM
My mom often said he told her he quit because he'd done what he wanted to do as a college basketball coach, and wanted new challenges.

Seems he found some...

-jk

Devil549
04-18-2018, 11:59 PM
Bubas was great coach who had great career at Duke and IMO knew it was time to move on. Probably had a lot of reasons but realized recruiting was changing and would become more difficult to recruit @ DUKE.

I went to his camp in late 60s and enjoyed it very much. They took camp picture which I need to find because Chuck and Hubie were in it but Bubas was one of the best coaches during the 60s.

I can remember Mullins but not Heyman also Marin and Mike Lewis and one of my all time favorites Bob Verga.

Reilly
04-19-2018, 12:23 AM
The Sun Belt had pretty steady membership during Bubas's time as commissioner, but a lot of turnover since: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt_Conference

korshmar
04-19-2018, 09:42 AM
Let the record show that Bubas had a winning record against Dean Smith.

I have many fond memories of Duke basketball while I was there (class of '68). One interesting one is the 2 years of games against UCLA, December '65 and December '66. UCLA had won the 1965 championship and came to North Carolina for a two game series, one night in Durham, the next in Charlotte, ranked No. 1. Before Alcindor and Walton, it was all about the UCLA zone press. Duke won convincingly, I think by 18 and 19 points. Unfortunately, there were two similar games the next year in California, with Alcindor, Allen & Shackleford now playing for UCLA, and Duke lost both games by 30 points, basically a 50 point swing in one year. Now coaching is of course important, but Coach Wooden did not get that much smarter, and Bubas that much dumber, in one year. The lesson: you got to have the players!

Reilly
04-19-2018, 03:56 PM
... the 2 years of games against UCLA, December '65 ... UCLA had won the 1965 championship and came to North Carolina for a two game series, one night in Durham, the next in Charlotte ...

I saw a photo online -- maybe via Twitter -- of Bubas and Wooden visiting with Case during that NC 2-game series.

60sDukie
04-20-2018, 09:17 AM
I was at Duke during the Bubas era (Lewis, Verga, etc.) when they were really good. I never told my parents but the basketball team was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Duke. So I guess I can thank Vic Bubas for my Duke education.