Duke Blue Devils
From Hoopedia
Duke University is a private coeducational research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B. Duke established The Duke Endowment, prompting the institution to change its name in honor of his deceased father, Washington Duke.
Duke University's sports teams, known as the Blue Devils, compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference and belong to the NCAA's Division I. The name comes from the French "les Diables Bleus" or "the Blue Devils," which was the nickname given during World War I to the Chasseurs Alpins, the French Alpine light infantry battalion.
The Duke Blue Devils basketball team is one of the best-known men's basketball programs in US college sports, and its rivalry with North Carolina is widely noted. The fourth-winningest college basketball program of all-time, the team from Duke University has had great success over the past 27 years under coach Mike Krzyzewski (often simply called 'Coach K').
Duke has won three NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships and been in 14 Final Fours. Eleven players have been named the National Player of the Year, while 71 players have been drafted in the NBA Draft. Additionally, Duke has had 55 All-Americans and 14 Academic All-Americans. Duke has 16 Atlantic Coast Conference championships (1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006), the most of any team in the ACC. Duke has also won the regular season 18 times (1954, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006). Duke is second, behind only UCLA, in total weeks ranked as the number one team in the nation by the AP with 110 weeks. The Blue Devils have the second longest streak in the AP Top 25 in history with 200 consecutive appearances from 1996 to 2007. This streak only trails UCLA's 221 consecutive polls from 1966-1980 as the longest of all time.
Coaches
Former coaches that coached at least five years include: Wilbur Wade Card (1906-12) - first coach of program; Eddie Cameron (1929-42) - namesake of Cameron Indoor Stadium; Gerry Gerald (1943-50); Harold Bradley (1951-59) - coached legend Dick Groat; Vic Bubas (1960-69) - led team to two Final Four’s and a runner-up award, coached Duke greats Art Heyman, Jeff Mullins and Bob Verga; Bill Foster (1975-80) – took team to National Championship game and an Elite Eight, coached Jim Spanarkel and Mike Gminski.
National Coach of the Year honors for Duke Coaches include Bill Foster (1978) and Mike Krzyzewski (1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 2000). ACC Coach of the Year honors include Harold Bradley (1959), Bill Foster (1978), Vic Bubas (1963, 1964, 1966), and Mike Krzyzewski (1984, 1986, 1997, 1999, 2000).
Players
National players of the year honors include Art Heyman (1963), Johnny Dawkins (1986), Danny Ferry (1989), Christian Laettner (1992), Elton Brand (1999), Shane Battier (2001), Jason Williams (2001, 2002), and J.J. Redick (2006). ACC players of the year include Art Heyman (1963), Jeff Mullins (1964), Steve Vacendak (1966), Mike Gminski (1979), Danny Ferry (1988, 1989), Christian Laettner (1992), Grant Hill (1994), Elton Brand (1999), Shane Battier (2001), and J.J. Redick (2005, 2006). ACC rookies of the year include Jim Spanarkel (1976), Mike Gminski (1977), Gene Banks (1978), and Chris Duhon (2001).
