Following a disappointing defeat at the hands of Mercer in March 2014—the Blue Devils’ second Round of 64 exit in a three-year span—Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski knew he needed to make adjustments to the way he ran his program.
They worked.
The Blue Devils’ season ran much deeper this spring—all the way to the national championship game in Indianapolis, bringing home the program’s fifth title. But upon returning to Durham, there was no chance to fully soak in the victory—after a welcome-back ceremony at Cameron Indoor Stadium April 7, the coaching staff hit the recruiting trail two days later.
“We had a longer spring last year, and when you lose, you have more time and you’re looking for everything you can do to improve,” Krzyzewski said at his annual K Academy fantasy camp in May. “This year we have less time, and we’re still trying to look at ways we can improve our program. We had to recruit like crazy [after winning], so we’re moving on.”
The first couple of weeks after the title game were a sprint for the players as well, with final exams rapidly approaching. After exams were out of the way, though, they could finally relish the extra attention that comes with winning a national championship.
“The last month has been amazing—get to take a lot of pictures, sign a lot of autographs for people who are on a high like we are,” senior Amile Jefferson said. “After winning a championship, anyone who’s been on this journey with us, anyone who’s supported Duke has been really on a high and been able to celebrate.”
Even after cutting down the nets, though, the offseason presents numerous questions for a Duke team that will look very different in November from the one that climbed the ladder in April. Krzyzewski’s squad must replace both of its title-winning guards—senior Quinn Cook and freshman Tyus Jones—as well as the dominant low-post presence of Jahlil Okafor and the versatile athleticism of Justise Winslow, both of whom joined Jones in leaping to professional ranks after just one season.
Another challenge for the Blue Devils is staying hungry after a storybook postseason run.
“Just being honest, it was easier probably last summer because we were coming off losing to Mercer and no one wanted that again,” Duke associate head coach Jeff Capel said. “It can be tougher now because you’re coming off winning a championship. Human nature, that’s something that we have to fight this summer. Sometimes that can cause guys to relax a little bit.”
A few weeks after the end of the spring semester, Jefferson, junior Matt Jones and redshirt sophomore Sean Obi—now eligible after sitting out last season in accordance with NCAA transfer rules—were back in Durham, and back in the gym preparing for the title defense. The trio is following in the footsteps of Cook, whose busy offseason of preparation in the gym and the weight room last year paved the way for a career year as a senior.
Having reached the pinnacle of the college basketball world, Jefferson, Jones, and fellow captain Marshall Plumlee will have to find a way to replicate the chip-on-their-shoulder mindset that powered last year’s team to a 35-4 record and set the tone for Duke’s six-man recruiting class.
Jefferson does not foresee complacency being a problem.
“We still have something to prove. We did win a national championship, we had a great season, we had a great year, but all our guys coming back want to do more, want to be better,” he said. “A guy like Grayson [Allen] coming back, he ended the season amazingly, so I know he’s hungry—he can’t be satisfied with just one great game. All our guys coming back are hungry, I believe already, and we have to instill that in the younger guys [and] set an example, just like we did last year.”
Along with showing their younger teammates the way on and off the court, each member of the trio will need to improve his game individually—Jefferson on his shooting range, Jones on his ball handling and Plumlee on his post moves. Allen will look to consistently attack the basket with the aggressiveness that fueled Duke’s comeback in the national title game against Wisconsin, and Obi will bring the physicality and rebounding that netted him nearly a double-double every night as a freshman at Rice.
The recruiting whirlwind the coaching staff went through in April certainly paid dividends, yielding the signings of five-star talents Brandon Ingram and Derryck Thornton. After getting early commitments from five-star center Chase Jeter and four-star guard Luke Kennard and adding Justin Robinson and big man Antonio Vrankovic, the two late additions propelled Duke’s recruiting class to the top of the charts for the second consecutive year and will provide an infusion of talent ready to contribute immediately.
“We filled needs, we’ve got really talented players. The thing is that these guys coming in are like the guys that are leaving—they’re great kids,” Capel said. “They want to be part of something.”
History suggests that it will be difficult for Duke to do what it did a season ago. With the exception of the Florida Gators’ back-to-back championships in 2006-07, no defending champion has advanced past the Sweet 16 in the last 12 years. With the one-and-done nature of today’s college game, sustaining that level of success across consecutive years has become increasingly difficult.
But the Blue Devils can take solace in knowing they have—as recently as last summer—found ways to solve many of the questions they currently face.
Last offseason, Duke dealt with uncertainty as many wondered how the top-ranked class of Okafor, Winslow, Jones and Allen would mesh with the returning roster and handle the responsibilities and expectations placed on their shoulders. After a year that featured Krzyzewski’s 1,000th career win and its share of adversity, that team found itself standing on the podium in Indianapolis watching “One Shining Moment” with a fifth national championship banner on its way to Durham and earned some of Krzyzewski’s highest praise.
This offseason, the Blue Devils will once again recreate an identity, one with a roster comprised of veteran leaders who have been to the top and young talent eager to make an impact. All that remains is to see where this year’s journey will take them.
Amrith Ramkumar and Nick Martin contributed reporting.
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