Through all his wins and national championships, the true legacy of
Coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke men’s basketball team is the number of
players he coached who went on to become coaches and managers – and it all started with that
1986 team that came within a basket of winning their first national
championship.
That all came to mind last week during the first three rounds of March
Madness when Harvard once again pulled a first round upset, then Stanford upset
number two Kansas in the second round. Both teams were coached by Duke alumni
who played in that 1986 championship game against Louisville.
Duke forward Tommy Amaker in 1986. |
Earlier that season, in the fall of 1985, I watched my first ever
college basketball game. We were visiting my brother in Calgary, which always
offered me the opportunity to escape peasant vision and watch cable TV. While
my family went shopping, I stayed in the basement and flipped on the TV.
There was a much hyped college basketball game that I had to watch. It
featured two of the best teams at the time: the Duke Blue Devils and the
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Duke was led by Johnny Dawkins and Tommy Amaker
and Mark Alarie and Danny Ferry, while Georgia Tech had guard Mark Price and
forward Bruce Dalyrimple. I used to carry around a notebook to write down
things I wanted to remember, mostly sports names and teams. I recall scribbling
the rosters of both teams, which is probably why I still remember those names
so easily.
Duke won that game, and would go on to have a magical run to the
championship, rated one of the best teams in the country. I followed them as much as I
could without cable TV, a regular newspaper, or sports magazines. My best
friend Chris Vining kept me in the loop too.
Peasant vision carried no college basketball, so I had no chance to
watch Johnny Dawkins lead his team into battle against Pervis Ellison and his
Louisville Cardinals, who were coached by the legendary Denny Crumm. Instead, I
recall hearing the news on that Monday night, on the late news, after I got
home from my after-school job at Gergely’s Greenhouse. We had a black and white
TV going at the greenhouse all day, so the next night, as I passed by, I saw
the highlights of the national championship game and Duke’s heartbreaking
three-point loss.
I just could not believe Johnny Dawkins and company had lost.
A legacy
That Duke team set the stage for a program that would become a regular in the Final Four, advancing in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992, winning the championship
those last two years. They would return again in 1994, losing to Arkansas for
the national championship, and have since won two more titles in the 21st
century.
Dawkins would go on to play for San Antonio, Philadelphia, and Detroit
in the NBA. When his playing days were done, he found a spot sitting beside
Coach K on the Duke bench in 1998 as one of his assistants until 2008. He would
eventually strike out on his own, coaching the Stanford Cardinal. His coaching
career to date has culminated with his Stanford team’s upset of Kansas.
Meanwhile Amaker coached Seton Hall, Michigan, and Harvard. Last year
his Harvard squad shocked number three New Mexico and this year upset number
five Cincinnati, before falling to number four Michigan State. Still, Amaker
has brought a winning culture to Harvard, that may dominate the Ivy League for
years to come.
There were others too from that 1986 team, such as Quinn Snyder, who
took Missouri to the tournament, Jay Bilas who was another assistant under
Coach K, Danny Ferry who was in management with Cleveland, San Antonio, and
Atlanta of the NBA, Billy King who is the GM of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, and
David Henderson who was an assistant for Coach K before assuming the duties as
head coach of the University of Delaware for six seasons.
Parting thoughts
As for Coach K, he continues to patrol the sidelines for the Blue
Devils. His team was upset in the first round by unheralded Mercer, but I hope
he takes comfort in the fact the players he mentored into coaches have achieved
their own success – and started by learning at his side. That’s the true
quality of leadership.
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