1997-98

Season Overview

The 1997-98 season was the moment the Transition era ended and the Second Dynasty announced itself. The freshman class that arrived in Durham that fall would change everything: Elton Brand, Shane Battier, William Avery, and Chris Burgess. Combined with the bridge players from the Transition — senior Steve Wojciechowski, senior Roshown McLeod, junior Trajan Langdon, sophomore Chris Carrawell, and junior Ricky Price — Duke suddenly had the deepest, most talented roster since the back-to-back championship teams.

Brand was a force from his first game — a 6-foot-8 center with a feathery touch and dominant post moves who would become the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft just one year later. Battier was the defensive prodigy — a 6-foot-8 forward who would win three consecutive NABC Defensive Player of the Year awards and eventually lead Duke to the 2001 national championship. Avery was a lightning-quick point guard. Together, they transformed a 24-9 team into a 32-4 powerhouse.

The season’s signature early moment came at the Maui Invitational, where Duke defeated #1 Arizona 95-87 in the championship game. Arizona, with Miles Simon and Mike Bibby, was the defending national champion. Duke outplayed them with a display of depth and skill that announced to the country: the Blue Devils were back at the top.

In the ACC, Duke went 15-1 — the best conference record since the 1992 championship team. The lone loss was a 73-64 defeat at North Carolina. Duke won the ACC regular season title for the second consecutive year.

The rivalry produced one of the most memorable Senior Day games in Cameron history. On February 28, with #1 Duke hosting #3 North Carolina, the Tar Heels — featuring Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, and Shammond Williams — built a 42-30 halftime lead. Wojo’s Cameron farewell looked like it would end in tears.

Then Elton Brand happened. The freshman, who had broken his foot earlier in the season and was still working his way back, came off the bench and scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the second half. Duke outscored UNC 47-33 after halftime. The Blue Devils won 77-75. After the buzzer, Wojciechowski sprinted straight to Krzyzewski for an embrace that became one of the most iconic images in Duke basketball history. Wojo finished with 11 assists. It was K’s 500th victory at Duke.

Brand broke his foot in January and missed seven games, but Duke barely noticed — McLeod, Carrawell, and Battier picked up the slack. When Brand returned, the team was even more dangerous.

In the NCAA Tournament, Duke was a #1 seed for the first time since 1992. They blitzed Radford (99-63), survived Oklahoma State (79-73), and dominated Syracuse (80-67) to reach the Elite Eight. There, they met #2 Kentucky — the same program that had been on the wrong end of The Shot six years earlier.

This time, Kentucky got its revenge. Duke led for much of the game, but down the stretch, Kentucky’s Wayne Turner isolated Wojciechowski and attacked relentlessly. No one questioned Wojo’s heart, but Turner was faster, and Kentucky pulled ahead. The final score was 86-84. Wojo’s career ended two points short of the Final Four.

The loss stung, but the foundation was undeniable. Brand would return as a sophomore and become the consensus National Player of the Year. Battier would become the most decorated defender in ACC history. Langdon, Avery, and Carrawell would form the core of a team that would go 37-2 the following season. The Second Dynasty wasn’t coming anymore. It had arrived.

Steve Wojciechowski was not the most talented player to wear a Duke uniform. He wasn’t the most athletic, the best shooter, or the highest-drafted. But by the end of the 1997-98 season, there was a case that he was the most Duke player who ever lived — the embodiment of everything K had built: toughness, intelligence, leadership, and an absolute refusal to lose.

On February 28, 1998, Wojo played his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The opponent was #3 North Carolina — Antawn Jamison (who would be named National Player of the Year), Vince Carter (who would become one of the NBA’s most electrifying players), and Shammond Williams. It was the kind of Carolina team that had been beating Duke for most of the decade.

And for 20 minutes, they did it again. The Tar Heels built a 42-30 halftime lead, outrebounding and outmuscling Duke’s smaller lineup. Jamison and Carter were dominant. Cameron was quiet. Wojo’s farewell looked like it would end the same way the last four years had begun — with Carolina celebrating on Duke’s floor.

Then Elton Brand changed everything. The freshman center had broken his foot in January and was still working his way back. He came off the bench in the second half and proceeded to score 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Brand’s post moves overwhelmed Carolina’s interior defense. His energy ignited his teammates.

Duke outscored North Carolina 47-33 in the second half. Langdon hit threes. Carrawell attacked the glass. Wojo did what Wojo always did — he made plays, defended, and willed his team to fight. He finished with 11 assists and zero quit.

Duke won 77-75.

The final buzzer sounded and Wojciechowski did something that would be replayed for decades: he sprinted directly to Mike Krzyzewski and threw his arms around his coach. The embrace — the tears, the emotion, the raw love between a player and the man who had believed in him when nobody else would have — became one of the defining images of Duke basketball.

It was Krzyzewski’s 500th victory at Duke. A milestone that felt appropriate for the occasion: a comeback for the ages, a freshman phenom arriving, and a senior captain leaving the only way he knew how — with everything he had.

‘We just wanted to be tough,’ Carrawell said. ‘We wanted to outfight them.’ It was the same language Capel and Langdon had used a year earlier. K’s culture was restored. The fight was back. The Second Dynasty was real.