UNBELIEVABLE BELIEVERS
The Blue/White Scrimmage was on deck and the eyes of the 2006-07 Duke Basketball players were focused on one word. BELIEVE. Seconds ago, the program's poster for the year, a highly anticipated annual tradition, had been revealed to the team. For the freshmen in the room and pictured behind the framed glass on the poster, this was the first time they had actually seen themselves photographed in a Duke uniform. To them, it was “really big time” if not a dream come true. This Duke team was young -- the youngest since World War II -- so they weren't quick to read into the poster's message or compare this image to posters of years past. No one knew at the time that the word of the moment, BELIEVE, would provide the foundation for college basketball's ultimate dream four years later.
Duke players and staff members will never forget the 2006-07 season.
There were celebratory moments that would make any team proud. Duke was ranked in the top 25 all but three weeks of the season, defeating four ranked teams including Georgetown at home and Gonzaga in New York City. Most college basketball programs cherish the individual trophies and watch- es awarded for NCAA Tournament participation, and the Blue Devils earned their spot in the Big Dance with 22 wins on the year. At Duke though, the expectations both inside and outside the campus walls are higher. Brian Zoubek, Lance Thomas and Jon Scheyer joined Gerald Henderson in a highly-touted recruiting class that was ranked among the best in the nation entering that 2006-07 campaign. Thomas, Scheyer, and Henderson earned McDonald's All-America honors and Zoubek was regarded as one of the best center prospects in the class of 2006. Another year at Duke, another top recruiting class, another banner year -- after all, Duke had hung at least one new banner in Cameron in 17 of the past 21 years, including 10 straight seasons entering 2006-07. Hanging banners, however, is not as easy as Coach K and his Blue Devils have made it look. One of the main ingredients over the years at Duke has been an unshak- able culture of passion and pride passed down from veteran players to the newcomers. Danny Ferry learned from Johnny Dawkins and the class of 1986. Christian Laettner practiced daily against Ferry. Shane Battier experienced the will of Steve Wojciechowski. Chris Duhon observed the
winning demeanor of Battier. JJ Redick and Shelden Williams could then wit- ness Duhon's hunger to win. The 2006-07 Blue Devils lacked those senior leaders.
LIVE YOUR CULTURE Coach K, during the 2006-07 season:
“If you’ve been in a business, a program or a family for a long time, there are certain things that are taught on a daily basis by people who have been in it for a long time. It’s a way of doing things, a way of working, it’s a way of communicating, it’s a way of going to class, it’s a way of living your culture. The really good programs create their own culture. Usually you have some older kids who help you teach it but we didn't, so that's probably the thing we spent the most time on this year."
After starting the year 18-3 and 5-2 in the ACC, Virginia's Sean Singletary hit a nearly impossible, contested fadeaway jumper with one second left to defeat Duke by two in overtime. The loss was the first of four in a row for Duke, and the Blue Devils lost eight of their final 12 games. Several of Duke's losses were demoralizing heart-breakers. The final stretch of 12 games included five losses by six points or fewer, an overtime loss in the ACC Tournament, and a last-second defeat in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to VCU.
142 DUKE 2010
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