"Thank you seniors," the Cameron Crazies chanted after Tuesday's 85-57 win against Virginia Tech, Duke's last home game of the season.
As the last home game, it also meant it was senior night for Mason Plumlee, Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly. The trio addressed a still-packed Cameron Indoor Stadium after the game. Here's what they had to say.
Mason Plumlee:
First of all, I'd like to thank you guys—you've been great, especially this year. We went undefeated at home. And most of you guys here tonight are seniors, I know it's senior night. But the season doesn't end tonight. I know a lot of you have nice cars, I see them all over campus, so hop in your car, I want you to drive to Greensboro [for the ACC Tournament] and then I want you to drive to Atlanta [site of the Final Four] come April. Personally, I just wanna say thanks—you guys are great. Thanks for the birthday signs too.
Seth Curry:
I just wanna say thank you for all four years being here, you guys are the best—easily gave us the best home court advantage in the whole nation so we really appreciate that. You're a big reason we're undefeated at home this year, and us three seniors, the four years we were here, three out of the four we were undefeated at home, so that's huge. We're not done, though. We're going to continue to need your support throughout the next month, and we wanna bring back some championships.
Ryan Kelly:
I figured I'd start by telling a funny story. It was pretty funny, when I was in middle school I came to Duke basketball camp and I remember being here standing right here and thinking, 'Dang, what does it like to feel like to have this place filled up with the best fans in the world?' Tyler [Thornton] was the only one that laughed, but it was a good story. They told me not to thank that many people, but I'd like to thank a few. My family over there—thank you so much. Father, mother, my brother's a manager, my sister's over here. My high school coach, who's a former Duke captain is here, Kevin Billerman—they're all over the place. Of course, my beautiful girlfriend Lindsay for her support. And I do wanna have a special thank you to the medical staff: Jose [Fonseca] and Nick [Potter] and all the doctors for getting me back on the court. Being out for that long of a time in your senior year... a lot of you were for the earlier Carolina game and I got a little choked up. It's not fun. I missed all of you. Believe me, I have the greatest appreciation for you guys. I hope you guys know we put our hearts on the line for you, and there's a ton of season left. We're gonna do something special with it. Thank you.
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