Former Duke basketball guard Kenny Blakeney remembers the Blue Devils’ 1991 national championship season very well. After all, he had a first-row seat – from the bench. The current Delaware assistant chose to redshirt his freshman season earlier that year. While his teammates cut down the nets in New Orleans, Blakeney could only watch. Though excited for his teammates, he yearned to be a part of the celebration.

Blakeney thought he missed his chance. Turned out he didn’t have to wait long to take part in the festivities. The Blue Devils became the first team since UCLA won seven straight championships, from 1967-1973, to repeat. No team has done it since, and Syracuse has the task of ending that string this season.

‘It’s kind of funny because right when I made the decision to redshirt, Brian Davis said to me, ‘It would be a shame for you to redshirt and for us to win,” Blakeney said. ‘It was very special to finally be part of a championship.’

Championship No. 1

Duke’s road to back-to-back championships began in 1988, when the Blue Devils reached the first of five straight Final Fours. They are the only team to do so besides UCLA in NCAA history. Duke lost in the national semifinal in both 1988 and 1989 before reaching the championship game in 1990. That year, Duke lost to a UNLV team that featured future NBA stars Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony. The loss set the tone for the success that would follow in the next two seasons.

In 1991 Duke returned its young core of Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill and Christian Laettner. In the national semifinal, Duke faced a familiar foe. All season they had focused on preparing for the Rebels. After UNLV’s 30-point thrashing of the Blue Devils in the championship game the year before, nearly everyone discounted Duke. UNLV’s unblemished record only added to its aura.

‘We got to the finals the year before, so in the back of our minds we knew we had some talent,’ former Duke guard and current Philadelphia 76ers scout Bobby Hurley said. ‘But UNLV was so heavily favored.’

Duke did the unthinkable, edging UNLV by two points. Laettner proved the difference, scoring a team-high 28 points in the victory. His leadership became a trademark of Duke’s success. Two nights later in the championship game, the Blue Devils completed their run with a 72-65 victory over Kansas. Laettner and Hurley both earned All-Final Four team honors.

Championship No. 2

But one championship didn’t satisfy the Blue Devils. Former Duke assistant and current Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey remembers his players’ reaction well. They wanted more. They urged the coaches to get the team back to work.

‘We had great leadership from our older guys,’ Brey said. ‘They wanted to do it again. They would send coaches messages in the offseason telling us not to let up. They demanded excellence from the young guys. They just said, ‘here’s how we did it last year.’ Not a single practice went without them reminding the young guys what it took.

‘Laettner wouldn’t let the team have a bad practice. It was cleary Laettner’s team. We had to tell him to go easy on the younger guys, especially Cherokee Parks.’

Duke had an air of confidence about it. Blakeney called it ‘swagger.’ Each player brought something different to the table. Hill provided steady confidence. Hurley said that Laettner exhibited confidence, even arrogance. Those attitudes carried to the whole team. The Blue Devils had gotten a taste of winning and wanted that taste again.

Both Blakeney and Hurley agreed key to the repeat was the return of Duke’s core. Laettner and Hill could have gone to the NBA and been first round draft picks. Instead, they returned to Durham, N.C. Coming into the season, Duke knew it had a good shot because most of UNLV’s stars had graduated or left school. The Blue Devils knew what they had to do – so much so that head coach Mike Krzyzewski barely had to remind them.

‘Coach treated us like veteran players,’ Hurley said. ‘He understood that we knew that we had to get things done. He took a more laid back approach and that helped in the long run.’

But the Blue Devils knew they could take no opponent lightly. They began the season ranked No. 1. The expectations were enormous.

The Blue Devils lived up to them.

They lost only two games during the regular season and breezed through the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Then, in the regional final against Kentucky, they had their closest call of the two-year run. Laettner’s turnaround shot from the free-throw line defeated the Wildcats, 104-103, and propelled Duke into the Final Four.

Once they reached Minneapolis, the Blue Devils had another close call against Indiana in the semifinals. They completed their two-year run with an easy championship game win over Michigan.

‘People took their best shot at us,’ Hurley said. ‘The first year we kind of flew under the radar a little. Every game you play is the other team’s biggest game. But everyone handled their business and we got it done.’

Said Blakeney: ‘We started and finished the season No. 1. We never thought we were going to lose. The (two) teams that beat us had to give us their best shot to get it done. We had talked about repeating as a team the whole season – in the locker room, our dorms, everywhere. We wanted to be the first team since UCLA to do it.’

Can Syracuse repeat?

Repeating in college basketball is a rarity. No team has done it in the 11 years since Duke did. Two teams – Kentucky and Arkansas – reached the national championship the year after winning, but both lost. Kentucky came the closest. The Wildcats beat SU for the title in 1996, then lost in overtime to Arizona in 1997. The next year, Kentucky won again, defeating Utah for the championship.

Before Duke, no team had repeated since UCLA from 1967-73. But from 1945-65, five teams repeated. So what’s the difference between then and now? Hurley attributed it to so many teams taking their best shot at the defending champion during the long college season. Blakeney said it’s because kids don’t stay at school long enough for a repeat.

‘With single elimination in the tournament, anything can happen if you’re not ready for every game,’ Hurley said.

The Orangemen already find themselves with one disadvantage that Duke didn’t encounter – the loss of a superstar. With Carmelo Anthony now in the NBA, the Orangemen will look for a new leader this season. Laettner and Hill had earned the same recognition that Anthony did in Duke’s first championship run. But they both chose to stay. Hurley said that both players talked of leaving early, but both had too much desire to win again.

Still, the Orangemen return a solid nucleus of Hakim Warrick, Gerry McNamara, Billy Edelin and Josh Pace. Their motivation is simple – no one outside of Syracuse thinks they can win without Anthony.

‘It’s ridiculous to think that we won just because of Carmelo,’ McNamara said. ‘Obviously, he was one of the reasons, but seven or eight other guys contributed. To say he’s what got us there is ridiculous.’

Hurley thinks even without Anthony, the Orangemen have a good shot. They bring in a strong freshman class of Demetris Nichols, Terrence Roberts, Darryl Watkins and the currently suspended Louie McCroskey. The backcourt of Edelin and McNamara could be one of the nation’s best.

Syracuse needs it to be if it wants to become the first team in 11 years to repeat as champions.

‘One thing about SU, everybody’s gunning for them anyway,’ Brey said. ‘They’ll be gone after even more this year. The main thing to repeat is, are those kids still hungry?’

Published on November 20, 2003 at 12:00 pm