To rejoice 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 primary issue right here, it’s all about their contribution to the sport’s cultural material.
For the subsequent 30 days—Monday by means of Friday— we’ll be unveiling the full listing right here. We’ve additionally bought an unique retro collegiate assortment, out now, that pays homage to every squad’s threads. Store right here.
With the hardwood as their canvas, the 2019 Duke Blue Devils painted a masterpiece that shall be remembered for generations to return.
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 lot of the basketball ecosystem zoomed in on Durham.
Beneath the management of Coach Okay, the Blue Devils have 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, leap 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 workforce’s ensuing “funeral”. Each possession was a possibility for showtime, with high-flying, thunderous dunks and defense-freezing dimes changing into the norm somewhat 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 have been squashed by Michigan State within the Elite Eight.
Williamson was the primary star who adorned the huge Durham sky. The freshman ahead was a drive 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 Street.
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 enjoyable prospects. Collectively, they fashioned one among Coach Okay’s finest tandems that introduced nothing however hope to the legions of Duke trustworthy.
Reddish dazzled together with his shot-creating prowess, whereas Tre Jones anchored the backcourt together with his poise and playmaking potential. In the meantime, Javin LeLaurier usually 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 have been 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 in opposition to Louisville after being down by 23 factors. Picturesque—Williamson spins 360 levels within the air and hammers it house, 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 recreation 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 workforce thus far.
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 lovely and coveted of work, the 2018-19 Blue Devils’ story maybe will stay timeless.
Pictures by way of Getty Pictures.
