GREENVILLE, S.C.—“For all of these guys, it’s their first NCAA game. So there’s a little bit of like—I don’t know if it’s nerves,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “It’s different. It’s just different.”
Since the beginning of the one-and-done era, Duke has been criticized for its lack of experience. Year after year, Krzyzewski has brought in some of the country’s top high school talent, just for those players to leave after a single season. Now, Duke’s rotation features a more diverse lineup, with three freshmen, two sophomores, a junior, a senior and a graduate transfer. The only issue is, between the seven of them, they possessed just one game of meaningful NCAA tournament experience entering Friday’s matchup (Theo John in 2019 with Marquette).
In Friday's 78-61 win against Cal State Fullerton, Duke certainly came in as the less-experienced team. Talent prevailed and brackets across the nation were spared, but the Blue Devils kicked off what is going to inevitably be an uphill march. If college basketball has taught us anything in the past few years, it’s that experience really does matter.
“Honestly, it felt amazing, really, just to go out there,” junior forward Wendell Moore Jr. said. “Obviously, we had no idea what to expect. Like Coach said, we’ve never been [here] ourselves”
Experience has been a real emphasis for Duke this year. Instead of a team that just relies on the super-talent of freshmen (i.e., Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett in 2018-19), the Blue Devils have bolstered a look this year that surrounds Moore and sophomore ACC Defensive Player of the Year Mark Williams, while sophomore guard Jeremy Roach, senior Joey Baker and John have also played significant roles in taking this team to No. 2-seed status. But despite that experience that this roster bolsters, a down year for the Blue Devils and the pandemic affecting the past two Duke postseasons, making this first March Madness game the first of its kind for the near-entirety of Duke’s roster.
It’s uncharted territory for the Blue Devils now and there’s no doubt nerves are high. These guys are playing in the very tournament they grew up watching and dreaming about as kids. And for star freshman Paolo Banchero, there’s even a little more to it than that. In a tweet Tuesday, Banchero revealed that he was a ball boy during the 2015 NCAA tournament, saying that it “all comes full circle.”
“It’s a real surreal experience being out there and playing in March Madness…” Banchero said. “Times like this, you sit back and it’s like, ‘Wow, I remember being the ball boy and being on the baseline and just dreaming of being on the court one day.’ So the fact that I’m here is pretty cool.”
Even for Krzyzewski, this is a bit of uncharted territory. The two-year gap in between tournaments is the longest since Krzyzewski's first tournament appearance with Duke. But to be back now, the Blue Devils, along with every other team in the tournament, have one goal in mind: win it all. For Krzyzewski, it would mean going out on top, and for his players, it would mean giving their coach the send-off he deserves after not being able to win the team's two big games prior to the NCAA tournament.
At the end of the day, though, Duke does have the talent and the experience where it matters most: its coach. Krzyzewski enters the tournament with the most NCAA tournament bids and wins by a coach ever. That kind of experience can’t be beaten.
“It felt great to be back here,” Krzyzewski said. “I wanted to make sure—I was concerned about how nervous our guys would be… Our kids did a great job.”
There is one player on Duke’s roster with Big Dance experience under Krzyzewski: senior forward Joey Baker. His last and only tournament run in 2019 ended against the very team Duke will play Sunday evening. Despite his lack of serious minutes, Baker’s four tournament games prior to this year are the most on the team by a longshot, so the key to a long run may be his ability to pass down the wisdom of his freshman season to the rookies of this event.
By the end of the game Friday, the Blue Devils looked like serious contenders, even while coming off of a tough stretch of games. A 17-point victory with five double-digit scorers, 10 total blocks and 21 total assists? That doesn’t seem like a team of newbies.
“It’s exciting. I mean, we’ve won an NCAA game. These kids have won an NCAA game,” Krzyzewski said. “In order to win something big, you have to win NCAA games.”
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