To have fun SLAM’s thirtieth anniversary, we’re spotlighting the 30 most influential males’s faculty groups from our previous 30 years. Stats, data 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 by way of Friday— we’ll be unveiling the full list here. We’ve additionally acquired an unique retro collegiate assortment, out now, that pays homage to every squad’s threads. Shop here.
With the hardwood as their canvas, the 2019 Duke Blue Devils painted a masterpiece that will likely be remembered for generations to come back.
Legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his workers painted the primary stroke by recruiting one among faculty basketball’s biggest 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, the whole thing of the basketball ecosystem zoomed in on Durham.
Beneath the management of Coach Ok, 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, soar and chant endlessly. And once they went on the street, the squad at all times dressed for the event of their all-black unis, a nod to the opposing group’s ensuing “funeral”. Each possession was a possibility for showtime, with high-flying, thunderous dunks and defense-freezing dimes turning into the norm fairly 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 Highway.
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 fun prospects. Collectively, they shaped one among Coach Ok’s greatest tandems that introduced nothing however hope to the legions of Duke devoted.
Reddish dazzled together with his shot-creating prowess, whereas Tre Jones anchored the backcourt together with his poise and playmaking skill. In the meantime, Javin LeLaurier typically 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 towards 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 unequalled chemistry, all backed by arguably the best basketball coach of all time. This squad, in all its glories and shortcomings, might need been the ‘Dukest’ Duke group up to now.
5 years since 2019, the tears, screams and recollections have but to completely escape the creaking wood doorways of Cameron Indoor Stadium. And very similar to essentially the most stunning and coveted of work, the 2018-19 Blue Devils’ story maybe will stay timeless.
Images by way of Getty Photographs.
