It’s hard to realize from this distance, and a lot of you who read this never experienced this, but before 1991, Duke was seen as a nice team that couldn’t get over the hump.
Before Mike Krzyzewski came to Durham, Duke made the Final Four in 1963, 1964, 1966 and 1978.
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Coach K took the Devils to the Final Four in 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990 before winning the back-to-back championships in 1991 and 1992.
As this video points out, before Christian Laettner became a lightning rod, Duke was not seen as a villainous team.
When Duke had a rematch with UNLV in 1991 after getting crushed in the 1990 finals, UNLV was the villain. They were actually hissed when they came in to the Hoosier Dome. Not just booed – hissed.
And when they lost to Duke, 3⁄4 of the crowd was ecstatic.
By the next fall, things had changed and Duke, largely due to Laettner, was seen as the villain, particularly after the Kentucky game where he put his foot on Aminu Timberlake’s chest, drawing a technical.
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However you look at it, this team changed things for Duke, taking it from lovable underdogs to, for many people, the Darth Vader of college ball.
One of the most interesting things about Jon Scheyer taking over is how the perception of Duke has changed. Duke hating is still there, but not with the same intensity.
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