1980-81

Season Overview

On March 18, 1980, Duke athletic director Tom Butters took the biggest gamble of his career, hiring a 33-year-old Army coach named Mike Krzyzewski to replace Bill Foster. The Duke student newspaper panned the move with a now-legendary headline: “Krzyzewski: This Is Not a Typo.” Almost nobody could pronounce his name. Even fewer could envision what was coming.

Krzyzewski inherited a roster with real talent at the top but alarming gaps underneath. Seniors Gene Banks and Kenny Dennard were bookend forwards — physical, charismatic, and battle-tested from a 1978 national championship game run under Foster. Junior Vince Taylor was a skilled, athletic wing. Sophomore Tom Emma was a capable shooting guard. But the cupboard was bare at center: Mike Gminski and Bob Bender had graduated, and Foster had whiffed on every big man recruit for years. Sophomores Mike Tissaw and Allen Williams were undersized and overmatched in the post. The entire Duke team blocked just 50 shots all season — Gminski alone had 97 the year before.

The ACC in 1980-81 was a brutal neighborhood. There was no shot clock, no three-point line, and plenty of ugly, grind-it-out basketball. Maryland started the season ranked fourth, Virginia eighth with Ralph Sampson, and North Carolina thirteenth with a roster that included freshman Sam Perkins and sophomore James Worthy. Dean Smith, Lefty Driesell, and Terry Holland all awaited. Krzyzewski’s first five games against ranked opponents all resulted in losses.

But there were signs of life. Krzyzewski’s man-to-man defensive principles began to take hold. Banks led the ACC in scoring at 18.5 points per game. On January 21, a 56-47 win at NC State gave Krzyzewski his first ACC victory. On January 24, Duke upset a ranked Clemson team in Cameron for the new coach’s first signature win.

The signature moment of the season came on February 28, the regular-season finale. It was Senior Day for Banks and Dennard, and #11 North Carolina came to Cameron. Banks, ever the showman, wore a tuxedo to his introduction and threw roses to the crowd. With two seconds left and Duke trailing 58-56, Krzyzewski drew up a play. Banks and Dennard ignored it. Dennard inbounded to Banks, who hit a spinning jumper over Sam Perkins’ outstretched arm at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime. Duke won 66-65. It was Coach K’s first victory over North Carolina, and the first great buzzer beater of the Krzyzewski era.

After a close loss to Maryland in the ACC Tournament, Duke accepted an NIT bid. Banks broke his wrist in the opener against North Carolina A&T, but Dennard stepped up heroically, leading Duke to wins over A&T and Alabama at Cameron before the season ended with a quarterfinal loss at Purdue — the same team that had ended Duke’s 1980 season. Banks and Dennard departed for the NBA. The cupboard was nearly empty.

But Krzyzewski had learned the ACC. He had shown he could compete. And that spring, he went to work on the recruiting trail — knowing that a good class wouldn’t be enough. He needed a great one. The 1980-81 season was the prologue. Everything that followed — Dawkins, Amaker, the 1986 Final, the five national championships — started with a 33-year-old coach nobody wanted, and a group of seniors who gave him a chance.

It was Senior Day at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Gene Banks had a plan. Before the game, while the public address announcer introduced Duke’s departing seniors, Banks appeared wearing a tuxedo. He threw roses into the crowd. The Cameron Crazies went wild. Then he changed into his uniform and got to work.

The opponent was #11 North Carolina, a team loaded with future pros: Al Wood, Sam Perkins, and a roster that would reach the national championship game three weeks later. James Worthy missed the game with an injury — a significant absence — but the Tar Heels were still the vastly more talented team. Duke was 14-11 and going nowhere in March. This game was supposed to be a coronation for the visitors.

The first 39 minutes were a war of attrition. Nineteen lead changes. Neither team could pull away. Sam Perkins, the ACC Freshman of the Year, carried Carolina in Worthy’s absence. Banks was quiet in the first half with just five points, but erupted after the break, scoring repeatedly inside and out.

With Duke trailing 58-56 and two seconds left, Perkins hit two free throws to extend the lead. Game over — or so it seemed. Dennard inbounded to Chip Engelland near midcourt, and Duke called its last timeout with one second remaining. In the huddle, first-year coach Mike Krzyzewski drew up a play. Engelland was the primary target. Banks was having none of it. He looked at Dennard and said: “Get me the ball.”

Dennard — who had played with Banks for four years, who knew exactly what his teammate could do — ball-faked toward Engelland, drawing Carolina’s defense. Then he lofted a pass to Banks near the free-throw line. Banks caught it, turned, and lofted a spinning jumper over Sam Perkins’ outstretched arm. The ball splashed through the net as time expired. Cameron Indoor Stadium erupted.

Overtime was more Banks. He scored six points in the extra period, including a follow shot off a missed Duke attempt with 19 seconds left — the real game-winner. Carolina’s Al Wood was smothered on the final possession. Duke won 66-65.

Banks finished with 25 points in 45 minutes. It was a masterpiece — a career-capping performance by one of the most charismatic players in Duke history. For Krzyzewski, it was his first win over North Carolina, validation that he belonged in this neighborhood. For the rivalry, it was the opening salvo in what would become the most intense and celebrated series in college basketball.

Years later, Banks and Dennard would laugh about overruling the rookie coach’s play call. Krzyzewski didn’t seem to mind. The free-spirited audacity of the Foster era had merged, just for one play, with the discipline of the Krzyzewski era — and the result was pure magic.