DUKE’S DECADE TOP 10 QUOTES ON DUKE
“Duke is the Yankees. Duke is the Soviet hockey team, pre-Miracle on Ice.
Duke is the Roman army. The British navy. The Ming Dynasty. Duke is a
meteor that always comes back, and the cloud that never stops raining.
Duke is the flu in winter and weeds in summer. Duke is Jell-O and Coca-
Cola and McDonald’s. Duke is a given. Duke will be in the Final Four.
Which is almost like saying a basketball will be in the Final Four. The Age
of Duke dawned in 1986, with some Polish guy from Chicago in charge.
Since then, the sun has never really set on the Duke Empire…”
USA Today’s Mike Lopresti
“Duke is on TV more than “Leave It to Beaver” re-runs.”
Former Virginia Coach Pete Gillen
“Love them or hate them, there’s no escaping the Duke Blue Devils. Like
the New York Yankees, Manchester United or Tiger Woods, the Blue Devils define an entire sport, no matter who holds
the championship trophy in a given year… The winning, the slapping the court, the graduating... it’s what college basket-
ball should be in this day and age of big money and loose morals.”
ESPN.com
“Year after year, Duke does seem to be led by ‘the Duke kid,’ some rare mix of brains and brawn and courage and cour-
tesy, a Superman who holds the door for old ladies, a lab tech with a jump shot. Don’t get me wrong. Other schools
have their own versions of this player. But Duke seems to find them year after year. It is more than coincidence that
connects Danny Ferry to Christian Laettner to Bobby Hurley to Grant Hill to Shane Battier to Jason Williams. It’s char-
acter.”
ESPN columnist/author Mitch Albom
“It’s almost like a shadow in the back of your mind. You’re like ‘Dang, shadow, go away!’ But it’s always there. Duke’s
always there.”
Former Maryland player Byron Mouton
“This is an entire team that plays like they live on Park Avenue but they refuse to give up the court on West Fourth
Street. West Fourth Street’s a pretty darn competitive park, and it’s asphalt, and these guys aren’t afraid of getting their
knees bloody and their fingers stuck in the chain rims. And that’s what makes them so special.”
Davidson Head Coach Bob McKillop
“History matters when it comes to the Duke Way. What’s more, when your program’s achievements include three
national titles and 10 Final Fours in the last 19 years, you can access a vast bank of historical precedents to illuminate
any present-day challenge.”
Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl
“I just met with some ESPN executives. Part of the discussion was what a plus it is in the ratings when Duke is on the
air. People want to watch Duke. People want to see them -- whether they root for them or not. They’re like Notre Dame
in football, the Yankees in baseball: people either love them or hate them because of what they’ve achieved. They are
very popular on ESPN. It is even easy to make a case for the Blue Devils as America’s team, based on cable ratings.”
ESPN’s Dick Vitale
“The love-hate relationship with Duke among national fans is alive and well. But the one constant is the respect for
what Krzyzewski has been able to accomplish since taking over the program. Duke has been to 22 NCAA Tournaments
since 1984. The Blue Devils have won three national titles and have been to 10 Final Fours, and they are on a current
run of nine straight Sweet 16 appearances. Krzyzewski has built one of the most impressive programs in NCAA history.
Duke’s home games are events, and Cameron is arguably the toughest home court in the country. The Blue Devils have
their pick of high school All-Americans every year. They produce National Player of the Year candidates. When Duke
plays on the road, the Blue Devils are the biggest draw on every other schedule. No other school can sell out Madison
Square Garden or the Meadowlands or places out West other than Duke, regardless of the opponent. The Blue Devils
are a happening every season, and it all started with Krzyzewski.”
ESPN’s Andy Katz
“You can mix unlimited academic expectations with unlimited winning. That’s what Coach K has proven at Duke. But...
maybe what says it best is this: Isn’t Duke where you would want your son to play?”
USA Today
For a complete decade recap, Visit our DBP blog
Blog.DukeBluePlanet.com
DukeBluePlanet.com 35
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