Duke hung a national title banner in the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday night at Countdown to Craziness—the fifth such occasion in the past 25 years. Here are some player reactions to the banner reveal:
Junior captain Matt Jones: "It was a great moment. It was kind of a ‘We did it’ moment. It was a dream come true, just to see the banner revealed and to hear the music playing behind it—it was kind of surreal.... The last hurrah. Now as a team we can move forward and know that it’s a different year. People are just going to chase after us even more, but we have to figure out what drives us and continue to let that drive us."
Senior captain Amile Jefferson: "It was great. I was sad that we couldn’t share it with the guys who have left us, but it was an amazing moment, a close to a great chapter. We had an amazing year, so it was an amazing rush of emotion."
Sophomore Grayson Allen: “I was close to tearing up out there.... [W]atching the fifth banner light up and just running out there again—there’s nothing like it.”
Freshman Luke Kennard: "When I saw that banner for the first time, it just gave me chills. When I see that and I look back at the team they had last year, I know they lost a lot of guys. They lost four main guys.... I know that we have a really young team, four upperclassmen, so if we buy in, if we are all in together and we listen to Coach [Krzyzewski], I believe it’ll be a special year for us."
Jack Dolgin contributed reporting.
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