To have fun SLAM’s thirtieth anniversary, we’re spotlighting the 30 most influential males’s faculty groups from our previous 30 years. Stats, information and chips aren’t the principle issue right here, it’s all about their contribution to the sport’s cultural cloth.
For the following 30 days—Monday via Friday— we’ll be unveiling the full listing right here. We’ve additionally acquired an unique retro collegiate assortment, out now, that pays homage to every squad’s threads. Store right here.
With the hardwood as their canvas, the 2019 Duke Blue Devils painted a masterpiece that shall be remembered for generations to come back.
Legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his employees painted the primary stroke by recruiting one in every of faculty basketball’s best freshman lessons; No. 1 RJ Barrett, No. 2 Zion Williamson, No. 3 Cam Reddish, No. 17 Tre Jones and No. 41 Joey Baker. As quickly because the 5 top-ranked 18-year-olds stepped foot on campus, everything of the basketball ecosystem zoomed in on Durham.
Below the management of Coach Okay, the Blue Devils had been beloved and feared. They’d rip groups aside contained in the storied Cameron Indoor Stadium, the place it was standing room solely and 1000’s of blue-painted ‘Cameron Crazies’ would scream, bounce and chant endlessly. And after they went on the highway, the squad at all times dressed for the event of their all-black unis, a nod to the opposing staff’s ensuing “funeral”. Each possession was a possibility for showtime, with high-flying, thunderous dunks and defense-freezing dimes turning into the norm somewhat than the exception.
And for a lot of the season, Duke prevailed: they completed their marketing campaign with 32 wins and simply six losses, although their championship hopes had been squashed by Michigan State within the Elite Eight.
Williamson was the principle star who adorned the huge Durham sky. The freshman ahead was a power of nature whose gravity-defying athleticism and boundless vitality transcended the game itself and left Twitter spinning with highlights. The Salisbury, N.C. native’s mere presence was sufficient to raise Duke to new heights, bringing an unseen nationwide highlight down onto Tobacco Street.
However Duke was removed from a one-man present. Alongside him stood RJ Barrett, a lefty Canadian sensation whose silky-smooth scoring contact and explosiveness made him one of many nation’s most enjoyable prospects. Collectively, they fashioned one in every of Coach Okay’s greatest tandems that introduced nothing however hope to the legions of Duke trustworthy.
Reddish dazzled together with his shot-creating prowess, whereas Tre Jones anchored the backcourt together with his poise and playmaking potential. In the meantime, Javin LeLaurier usually despatched photographs flying to the third row on one finish and cleaned up dump-offs within the paint on the opposite.
Collectively, this cohort of bucket-getting artists produced scenes which were stamped within the minds of basketball aficionados. Mesmerizing—Williamson bolted and elevated to ship De’Andre Hunter’s nook three deep right into a sea of staggered Virginia followers. Breathtaking—Barrett finds Reddish between the legs for a triple to tie the sport in opposition to Louisville after being down by 23 factors. Picturesque—Williamson spins 360 levels within the air and hammers it dwelling, everybody round freezing nonetheless.
Duke’s 2019 squad exemplified what Duke basketball has come to imply—a cultural phenomenon, an everlasting love-or-hate relationship. However this season was additionally distinctive: each sport felt like an ethereal expertise, the truest exhibiting of pure expertise and unmatched chemistry, all backed by arguably the best basketball coach of all time. This squad, in all its glories and shortcomings, may need been the ‘Dukest’ Duke staff up to now.
5 years since 2019, the tears, screams and recollections have but to totally escape the creaking picket doorways of Cameron Indoor Stadium. And very like essentially the most lovely and coveted of work, the 2018-19 Blue Devils’ story maybe will stay timeless.
Pictures through Getty Photographs.
