It is 1986, and the Final Four is at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. I’m not quite ten years old and my favorite player in college basketball is Louisville’s Pervis Ellison.
Sure, he was a fantastic player, but admittedly it was his nickname of “Never Nervous” Pervis that really seemed to endear me to him. Remember, I was nine (almost ten), and it just seemed really cool to me.
My older brother was 14 at the time and, I believe, convinced that he was a younger version of either Ellison’s teammate Milt Wagner or LSU’s Chris Jackson — he wrote “CJ” on the back of his basketball shoes, which also seemed really cool.
The Duke Blue Devils were in town, but I was not impressed. The Kansas Jayhawks hadn’t quite captured my imagination as of yet — I can recall being slightly intrigued by the concept of a “jayhawk”, but I left it at that. Cut me a little slack here, not only was I nine, but I was also living in Dallas at the time. For the love of God, John Koncak and SMU were more prominent on my radar back then (anyone heard from Koncak lately?).
Louisville beat Duke in the 1986 title game, 72-69, Ellison was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and all seemed pretty stable in the college basketball universe from where I was sitting.
But oh how this universe was about to change. Here come the Blue Devils.
Since that 1986 Final Four in Dallas, and their 71-67 victory in the national semifinals over a foul-plagued Danny Manning and KU (stay tuned for more), that basketball program in Durham has been to nine Final Fours and won three national titles. No other team has been amongst the last four teams standing more often in that time span and no other program seems to have angered more college basketball fans across the nation.
The 1985-86 Kansas Jayhawks went 35-3 before running into Duke. A mere three-point loss to Iowa State separated KU from a perfect 14-0 record in Big Eight play. Conference champions, conference tournament champs, widely held to be one of the program’s all-time great squads, ranked No. 2 in the final regular season AP poll — right behind Duke. Losers in the Final Four, to Duke. KU fans sing with me, “Duke be damned!”
The 1990-91 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels appeared well on their way to defending their 1990 national title. Jerry Tarkanian’s ridiculous assemblage of talent entered their national semifinal game against Duke with a 34-0 record (looking to become the first undefeated team since Indiana in ’76) and was smoking the competition by an average — AN AVERAGE — of 26 points per game. Duke wins by two, 79-77, and goes on to beat KU, 72-65, for the national title. Vegas and KU fans together “Duke be damned!”
The 1991-92 Michigan Wolverines (if you can still find them in the annals of college basketball) accomplished what will never be done again — starting five freshmen en route to the college basketball championship game. History has shown this group to be one that was tainted by scandal — but at the time these 18-year-old kids were THE face of college hoops. They had trash-talked and swaggered their way into the imagination of young fans across the country. Duke silenced the uprising with a humbling 71-51 hammering. What’s that? Oh, yes, “Duke be damned!”
1994 NCAA tournament — the Florida Gators (led by former K-State coach Lon Kruger) make a valiant run to the Final Four as the sixth seed in the East Regional behind the clutch shooting of Dan Cross. This one had bad karma written all over it. You can’t get too big in hoops with Steve Spurrier watchin’, Lon. Duke advances to the title game with a five-point win. You know the refrain well by now.
In the 1999 tournament, Duke decides to have its way with John Chaney and Temple in the Elite Eight — thrashing the Owls by 21 points, 85-64. You don’t do this to the great John Chaney and get away with it. Connecticut lends a helping hand and beats the Blue Devils, 77-74, in the finals. Starting to understand?
The 2001 national championship game pitted the Durham Blue Devils against Arizona, another team not particularly well-liked in these parts. Duke won, but does it really matter? Not especially, but for the sake of continuity — “Duke be damned!”
Now it’s seventeen years after that Final Four in Dallas, and I see a youngster in downtown Lawrence not much younger than I was in April of 1986. He’s proudly wearing a Kirk Hinrich jersey, it’s the Sunday following KU’s 32-point pounding of Arizona State, and Duke looms on the horizon once again for the Jayhawks.
I ask the young lad if he likes the Duke Blue Devils, he quickly shakes his head and points to the number 10 on the front of his jersey. I look at his father and smile — he knows the chorus.
Perhaps before Thursday night’s Sweet 16 tilt against the Blue Devils he’ll inform his son that the only time KU has beaten Duke just happened to be 1988 in the national semifinals, we all know what happened next.
I miss Pervis Ellison.
