To rejoice SLAM’s thirtieth anniversary, we’re spotlighting the 30 most influential males’s school groups from our previous 30 years. Stats, data and chips aren’t the primary issue right here, it’s all about their contribution to the sport’s cultural cloth.
For the following 30 days—Monday by Friday— we’ll be unveiling the full list here. We’ve additionally obtained an unique retro collegiate assortment, out now, that pays homage to every squad’s threads. Shop here.
Former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski as soon as mentioned, “Two are higher than one if two act as one.” And he’s proper, particularly when speaking concerning the ‘99 Blue Devils’ stars Elton Model and Trajan Langdon.
Led by the scale and athleticism of Model and the finesse and aptitude of Langdon, Duke’s squad established itself as one of the vital unstoppable forces in school basketball historical past, a real embodiment of the Blue Devils’ perennial preeminence. They had been rock stars of the faculty basketball scene. Everybody needed to be like them, however nobody actually was. Model bulldozed his means by defenses, incomes accolades and admiration along with his sheer dominance on the court docket. He averaged 17.7 factors and 9.8 rebounds per sport, incomes him the Naismith Nationwide Participant of the Yr award as a sophomore.
Whereas the brawn of Model was contained in the paint, the artistry of Langdon was exterior the arc. The senior guard, nicknamed the “Alaskan Murderer,” was Duke’s deadly scoring weapon. Whereas his dimension and athleticism helped him discover success attacking the paint, a few of his finest moments got here from long-range. At any prompt, Langdon would rise over defenders with the flick of his wrist, signaling an automated three factors.
The three-time All-ACC guard logged 17.3 factors and knocked down the three ball at an environment friendly 44.1 % clip. His finest video games all the time got here when it mattered most, whether or not it’d be his 24 factors in opposition to Missouri State or his 25-point explosion within the nationwide championship sport.
For each scorer—or, on this case, for each two scorers—there have to be a ground common who can distribute the ball for issues to work. Fortunately for Duke, and to everybody else’s misfortune, the Blue Devils had William Avery operating the present.
Avery was a Swiss Military knife type of participant. He constantly splashed bounce pictures from anywhere on the ground, threw dimes left and proper and even sneaked up on opponents for run-ending steals. In the meantime, sophomore Shane Battier stifled opponents on the wing as among the best defenders within the ACC, whereas his spot-up capturing would deflate opposing arenas with quickness.
Protection was their spine, fundamentals had been their gospel and team-play was their anthem. Below Coach Ok, the distinct personalities of the gamers would gel right into a singular unit destined to destroy groups on the hardwood. Combining the collective brilliance of the nation’s high school gamers and a world-class teaching workers—to not point out the unwavering assist from the craziest followers in school basketball—the Blue Devils tore by their marketing campaign with a jaw-dropping 37-2 file.
Duke’s solely common season losses got here in opposition to Cincinnati in November after they fell simply two factors shy in opposition to the Bearcats. However the Blue Devils bounced again tremendously, reeling off 32 straight wins as much as their matchup in opposition to Connecticut within the NCAA match remaining. Although the loss nonetheless stings at the moment for the Cameron Crazies, the sheer greatness of that ‘99 group will perpetually be etched into their reminiscence.
Pictures by way of Getty Pictures.
