In the fall of 1990, Duke was the Duke it had long been: a really good basketball school that never quite made it to a championship. Mike Krzyzewski had gotten his Blue Devils to the Final Four in 1986, 1988, 1989, and 1990, losing horribly to UNLV 103-73.
In 1991, though, all of that changed, as Duke won a stunning Final Four rematch over an undefeated Vegas, 79-77.
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With Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, and Bobby Hurley, Duke opened the 1991-92 season with immense optimism. Coach K said Duke wasn’t defending anything; they were attacking.
And in an exhibition game against the USSR National Team, Duke showed its potential, winning 90-70.
The team would go on to win a second consecutive championship, the first team to do that since UCLA in 1972 and 1973. Christian Laettner would be haughty and GQ perfect and irritate every other fan base, not least of all UNC and most of all Kentucky, and Duke would shed the label of likable underdog forever.
What a year it would turn out to be.
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