Michael William Krzyzewski, nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five national titles, 13 Final Fours, 15 ACC tournament championships, and 13 ACC regular season titles. Among men's college basketball coaches, only UCLA's John Wooden has won more NCAA championships, with a total of ten. Krzyzewski is widely regarded as one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time.
Christian Donald Laettner is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) history. He was the star player on the back-to-back Duke National Championship teams of 1991 and 1992, and the NCAA player of the year in his senior year. He is particularly famous for his game-winning shot against Kentucky in the 1992 tournament and for the hatred he received from opposing fans.
Gregory Carlton Anthony is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst for NBA TV and Turner Sports. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Anthony also contributes to Yahoo! Sports as a college basketball analyst and serves as a co-host/analyst on SiriusXM NBA Radio. His son, Cole Anthony, plays for the Orlando Magic.
Larry Demetric Johnson is an American former professional basketball player who spent his career as a power forward with the Charlotte Hornets and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 2008, Johnson was inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame. He was then inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame on November 24, 2019.
Jerry Tarkanian was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Rebels, leading them four times to the Final Four of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, winning the national championship in 1990. Tarkanian revolutionized the college game at UNLV, utilizing a pressing defense to fuel its fast-paced offense. Overall, he won over 700 games in his college coaching career, only twice failing to win 20 games, while never having a losing season. Tarkanian was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
Gregory Russell Paulus is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team. He previously served as an assistant basketball coach for Louisville, Ohio State, and George Washington University. Paulus is a former multi-sport athlete, playing college basketball as a point guard on the Duke University men's team and later football at Syracuse University.
The 1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I men's college basketball. It began on March 15, 1990, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in Denver, Colorado. A total of 63 games were played.
The 1991 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1991, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana. A total of 63 games were played.
The Carolina–Duke rivalry refers to the sports rivalry between the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke University Blue Devils, particularly in the sport of basketball. It is considered one of the most intense rivalries in all of US sports: a poll conducted by ESPN in 2000 ranked the basketball rivalry as the third greatest North American sports rivalry, and Sports Illustrated on Campus named it the #1 "Hottest Rivalry" in college basketball and the #2 rivalry overall in its November 18, 2003 issue. The intensity of the rivalry is augmented for many reasons. One reason is by the proximity of the two universities—they are located only ten miles apart along U.S. Highway 15–501 or eight miles apart in straight-line distance. In addition, Duke is a private university whereas Carolina is a public school; the vastly different funding structures and cultures between the two further contribute to the intensity of the rivalry. However one of biggest reasons for this rivalry lies in their respective basketball programs. Almost every year at least one of the schools is a contender to win the national championship.
The NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team represents North Carolina State University in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. N.C. State is one of the seven founding members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Prior to joining the ACC in 1954, the Wolfpack was a member of the Southern Conference, where they won seven conference championships. As a member of the ACC, the Wolfpack has won ten conference championships, as well as two national championships in 1974 and 1983. State's unexpected 1983 title was one of the most memorable in NCAA history.
The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represents Duke University in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The team is fourth all-time in wins of any NCAA men's basketball program, and is currently coached by Jon Scheyer.
The UNLV Runnin' Rebels are the men's basketball team that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Mountain West Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); it plays at the Thomas & Mack Center on campus. As of 2009, UNLV had the fourth-highest winning percentage (.712) in Division I history, ranking behind Kentucky, North Carolina and Kansas, but ahead of UCLA and Duke. UNLV is 33–19 all-time in the NCAA tournament with a 63.5 winning percentage. In July 2008, ESPNU named the program the eighth most prestigious collegiate basketball program in the nation since the 1984–85 season.
The 1991–92 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team was a Division I college basketball team that competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Led by All-American Christian Laettner and Grant Hill, Duke won its 2nd national championship in as many years to become the first repeating team since UCLA's seven-year dynasty from 1967 to 1973. The feat would not be accomplished again in college basketball until the Florida Gators did it in 2007.
The 1990–91 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team was a Division I college basketball team that competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team brought to Duke their first national championship when they defeated Kansas 72–65. Duke would win the championship again the following year, making Duke the first team since UCLA in 1973 to win back-to-back titles.
The 1990–91 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in NCAA Division I men's competition in the 1990–91 season. The Runnin' Rebels, coached by Jerry Tarkanian, entered the season as defending national champions and entered the 1991 NCAA tournament unbeaten, but lost in the national semifinal to eventual champions Duke when Anderson Hunt's desperation three in the final seconds bounced off the backboard and into the hands of a Duke player, Bobby Hurley, ending a 45-game winning streak that dated back to the previous season. They had been the last team to finish the regular season unbeaten before St. Joseph's did it in 2004. They were the last team to enter the NCAA tournament unbeaten until Wichita State did it in 2014, Kentucky in 2015, and Gonzaga in 2021.
The 2010–11 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Returning as head coach was Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski. The team played its home games at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina and are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team finished the regular season with a record of 30–4, ranked #1 in the media polls a total of eleven weeks during the season. They also won the ACC tournament, winning for the third consecutive year. As the #1 seed in the west region of the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, they defeated Hampton in the second round and Michigan in the third round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they were defeated by Arizona to finish the season 32–5.
Henry O. "Hammerin' Hank" Nichols is an American college basketball referee and later supervisor of officials. In 2012, he was inducted as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Nichols is also a member of the Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame, Villanova Athletic Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Athletic Hall of Fame, the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. He officiated 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA)Final Fours, a record 6 NCAA Men's Basketball National Championships, 3 NIT Finals, 2 Olympic Games and 1 European Championships. He was also the first official to work with both the NIT and NCAA Championship Basketball Finals in a single year, and the first National Coordinator of Officials. Since 2004, he has worked as an Umpire Observer for Major League Baseball.
The 1992 NCAA tournament was highlighted by a game between East Region #1 seed Duke and #2 seed Kentucky in the East Regional Final to determine a spot in the Final Four. With 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime, defending national champion Duke trailed 103–102. Grant Hill threw a pass the length of the court to Christian Laettner, who faked right, dribbled once, turned, and hit a jumper as time expired for the 104–103 win. In 2004 Sports Illustrated deemed it the greatest college basketball game of all time, and ESPN included it as number 17 on its list of top 100 sports moments of the past 25 years. It is ranked number one on the list of the greatest NCAA tournament games of all time compiled by USA Today in 2002.
The 1990 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game was the final round of the 1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, and it determined the national champion for the 1989-90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 1990 National Title Game was played on April 2, 1990 at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The 1990 National Title Game was played between the 1990 West Regional Champions, #1-seeded UNLV and the 1990 East Regional Champions, #3-seeded Duke.
On March 30, 1991, during the national semifinal of the 1991 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the Duke University Blue Devils played a college basketball game against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Runnin' Rebels at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Blue Devils, who were seeded 2nd in the Midwest regional bracket, faced the Runnin' Rebels, who were seeded 1st in the West.
