50 Fun Facts About Duke Basketball

How many NCAA men's basketball national championships has Duke won?

1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 and 2015, all under Mike Krzyzewski, tying Indiana for fifth all-time.

Where does the Blue Devils nickname come from?

The student newspaper started using it in 1922-23 and it stuck; the teams had been the Methodists.

What is the name of the arena Duke has played in since 1940?

It opened in 1940 as Duke Indoor Stadium and was renamed for coach and athletic director Eddie Cameron in 1972.

What is the seating capacity of Duke's home arena?

Renovations in 1987-88 removed standing room; before that around 12,000 could squeeze in.

What helped pay for the construction of Duke's home arena in 1940?

The building cost $400,000 and was the biggest gym south of Penn's Palestra.

What is the tent city where students camp for tickets outside Cameron called?

Legend says it began in 1986 with about 15 drunk students and a rented tent.

The Cameron Crazies are credited with popularising which famous taunt in 1979?

It followed a North Carolina shot by Nick Yonakor that missed rim and backboard entirely.

How many seasons did Mike Krzyzewski coach Duke?

He arrived in 1980 and retired after the 2021-22 Final Four.

For which coach did Krzyzewski play point guard at Army?

He later broke Knight's record for Division I wins with victory number 903 in 2011.

How many Olympic gold medals did Coach K win as head coach of the US men's team?

2008, 2012 and 2016; he had been an assistant to Chuck Daly on the 1992 Dream Team.

In which city was Mike Krzyzewski born?

His Polish-American father worked as an elevator operator under the shortened surname Kross.

Where did Krzyzewski win his record 903rd game in 2011 and later his 1,000th?

The 903rd came against Michigan State, the 1,000th against St. John's.

Whom did Duke beat in the 1991 final to win its first national title?

They had upset unbeaten UNLV in the semifinal, avenging a 30-point loss in the 1990 final.

Whom did Duke upset 79-77 in the 1991 Final Four, a year after losing to them by 30?

The Runnin' Rebels were unbeaten and heavily favoured to repeat.

Against which team did Christian Laettner hit "The Shot" at the buzzer in the 1992 East Regional final?

Grant Hill threw the full-court pass; Duke won 104-103 in overtime in a game ESPN called the greatest ever.

How much time was left when Duke inbounded before Laettner's 1992 shot?

Sean Woods's runner off the glass had put Kentucky up by one moments earlier.

Which freshman-led team did Duke beat in the 1992 final to repeat as champions?

Chris Webber, Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard lost 71-51.

Christian Laettner was the only college player on which famous squad?

He was drafted third by Minnesota that summer and Duke retired his No. 32.

Which Duke point guard held the NCAA career assists record with 1,076 for 33 years?

Purdue's Braden Smith finally passed him in 2026; Hurley's father coached St. Anthony in Jersey City.

The father of the player who threw the pass for The Shot, Calvin Hill, played which sport professionally?

Grant went third overall to Detroit in 1994 and shared Rookie of the Year with Jason Kidd.

Whom did Duke beat 82-72 in the 2001 final for its third title?

They won every tournament game by double digits, and Krzyzewski entered the Hall of Fame that year.

Who was the consensus national player of the year on Duke's 2001 championship team?

He swept the Naismith, Wooden, AP and Rupp awards and later won two NBA titles with Miami.

Which Duke sharpshooter set the ACC career scoring record and became Lakers head coach in 2024?

He won the Naismith award in 2006 and went 11th to Orlando.

Whom did Duke beat 61-59 in the 2010 national final?

Gordon Hayward's half-court heave for Butler rimmed out at the buzzer.

Which future Duke head coach captained the 2010 championship team?

In 2023 he became the first person to win an ACC tournament as both player and coach.

Whom did Duke beat 68-63 for its fifth title in 2015?

Freshmen Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow led a team that had ended Kentucky's unbeaten hopes indirectly.

In which country was Kyrie Irving born?

He was born in Melbourne to American parents, played one injury-shortened year at Duke and went first overall in 2011.

What happened moments into Zion Williamson's first game against North Carolina in February 2019?

Nike's stock lost $1.1 billion in value the next day.

Which NBA team drafted Zion Williamson first overall in 2019?

He was ACC Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Athlete of the Year in his one season.

Which Duke freshman from Maine was the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft?

He was consensus national player of the year and won Rookie of the Year with Dallas.

How many Duke players have been drafted first overall in the NBA draft, the most of any school?

Art Heyman, Elton Brand, Kyrie Irving, Zion Williamson, Paolo Banchero and Cooper Flagg.

Which team beat Duke 81-77 in the 2022 Final Four in Coach K's last game?

UNC had also spoiled his final home game at Cameron a month earlier.

Roughly how far apart are the Duke and North Carolina campuses in a straight line?

It is about ten miles by road along US 15-501, part of Tobacco Road.

In what year did Duke and North Carolina first meet in basketball?

Trinity, as Duke was then called, won 19-18.

Who was the first Duke player named National Player of the Year, in 1952?

He went on to win a World Series and NL MVP with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960.

Which coach took Duke to its first Final Four in 1963?

His 1964 team lost the final to UCLA, the first of John Wooden's ten titles.

Which league did Duke help found in 1953 after leaving the Southern Conference?

Duke has won a record 24 ACC tournament titles.

What was Duke University called when basketball arrived on campus in 1906?

The first game was a 24-10 loss to Wake Forest in the Angier B. Duke Gymnasium, known as The Ark.

How many consecutive Final Fours did Duke reach from 1988 to 1992?

The run ended with back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992.

How many wins did Krzyzewski finish with at Duke and Army combined?

He was the first Division I men's coach to reach 1,000.

To which team did Duke lose the 1994 championship game?

Nolan Richardson's "Forty Minutes of Hell" press did it; UConn beat Duke in the 1999 final.

How many weeks has Duke spent ranked number one in the AP poll, the most of any program?

It also had a 200-poll top-25 streak from 1996 to 2007, third longest ever.

Which architect, who trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, designed Duke's home arena?

The plans were drawn up in 1935 by coach Eddie Cameron himself before Abele designed the building.

Which Duke star was 1994 ACC Player of the Year and entered the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2018?

He won two titles at Duke and played for the Pistons, Magic, Suns and Clippers.

Which team beat Bill Foster's Blue Devils in the 1978 NCAA championship game?

Duke had gone 2–10 in the ACC the previous year; Gene Banks, Mike Gminski and Jim Spanarkel led the turnaround.

Jon Scheyer became the first to win an ACC tournament title in which two roles?

He captained the 2010 national champions and was named Coach K's successor in June 2021, a year before taking over.

Which school ended Duke's 19-year unbeaten non-conference run at Cameron in 2019?

The Lumberjacks won 85–83 in overtime; Duke also hosts the previous season's Division II champion in an exhibition every November.

The 2015 documentary about the most hated Duke player of all is titled 'I Hate' whom?

The film names five reasons for the animosity: privilege, race, bully, greatness and looks.

How long was the record-setting 2006 marathon basketball game between Duke and UNC students?

Duke won 3699–3444, and the $60,000 raised went to the Hoop Dreams Basketball Academy for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Former Duke assistant Pete Gaudet went on to coach which country's national women's team?

Other Krzyzewski disciples such as Tommy Amaker, Mike Brey, Chris Collins and Quin Snyder went on to head jobs in college and the NBA.