First Dynasty
Back-to-back titles. The Shot. The Dream Team. The greatest run in program history.
The First Dynasty Era at Duke, 1986–94
Back-to-back titles. The Shot. The Dream Team. The greatest run in program history. Across 8 seasons Duke went 227-56 (.802) and won 2 national championships, taking 2 ACC Tournament titles.
33 players wore the uniform in this era and are catalogued below. 11 were drafted into the NBA; 10 reached an NBA roster, a number that can run higher because undrafted players make teams too. The rest went into coaching, medicine, law, business and the ordinary lives that make up most of any roster. Each card below links to a full profile: how he got to Duke, what he did here, and where he is now.
Every Duke Player of the First Dynasty Era
Kevin Strickland
Senior captain of the 1988 Final Four team. Then France. Then the trail goes quiet.
Andy Berndt
Nine minutes of Duke basketball. Then he founded Google Creative Lab.
George Burgin
Amaker's high school teammate. Three Final Fours in 38 games.
Dave Colonna
Two minutes of Duke basketball. First-Team All-ACC at tight end.
Rey Essex
Eight minutes for Coach K. Thirty-five years in tech. Now he is reinventing the checkout line.
Danny Ferry
The bridge between Foundation and Dynasty.
Quin Snyder
From Cameron to courtside in the NBA. The longest road back.
Alaa Abdelnaby
Duke’s Egyptian prince.
Jon Goodman
One season, twenty minutes. Now Montana's first and only Certified Private Wealth Advisor.
Phil Henderson
Three Final Fours. The dunk on Mourning. Gone at 44.
Robert Brickey
King Dunk. 147 dunks. The letter is still on the wall.
Clay Buckley
The week Duke beat UNLV, he was George Ackles on the scout team. He was also the captain.
Joe Cook
Brother of one NBA first-round pick, uncle of another. Three Final Fours of his own.
Greg Koubek
The first player ever to reach four Final Fours. Now a YMCA director.
Ron Burt
Made the team at an open tryout. Sat eight feet from The Shot.
Brian Davis
Laettner’s partner — in victory and in debt.
Christian Laettner
The most hated. The most clutch. The only collegian on the Dream Team.
Crawford Palmer
A Duke ring in 1991. A French Olympic silver in 2000.
Thomas Hill
An Olympic medalist's son. Two rings. The tears when Laettner hit The Shot.
Bobby Hurley
The kid from the bingo hall who nearly died on a Sacramento road.
Billy McCaffrey
Championship hero. Transfer rebel. The ring stayed in the dorm room. He was always a champion.
Christian Ast
A Heidelberg field hockey player who picked up a basketball at 15. He left Duke with two rings.
Kenny Blakeney
Two national championships. Now building Howard into an HBCU powerhouse.
Marty Clark
Five of six from the line in the 1992 Final Four. Years later, a phone call from Coach K helped him get sober.
Grant Hill
The most complete player. The most devastating injuries. The longest arc.
Antonio Lang
The quiet warrior of two titles.
Kenney Brown
Four points, all from the foul line. The Brotherhood remembers everyone who made the roster.
Stan Brunson
A soccer player without a Duke jersey. Then the inbounds pass on the Ricky Price winner.
Erik Meek
A ring as a freshman. Captain of Duke's worst team in fifteen years as a senior.
Cherokee Parks
The last big man of the dynasty years.
Chris Collins
Doug Collins's son. Mini-hoop with Kobe. Took Northwestern to its first NCAA Tournament.
Tony Moore
Four years behind Laettner, Hill and Parks. Gone at 42. The Brotherhood brought him home.
Joey Beard
He outscored Grant Hill. Then the ground shifted.