2000-01

Season Overview

This was the season everything came together — and almost fell apart.

Shane Battier entered his senior year as the last remaining member of the heralded 1997 recruiting class that had included Elton Brand and William Avery. Brand and Avery, along with Corey Maggette, had become the first Duke underclassmen to leave early for the NBA Draft two years earlier. Battier had stayed. He had watched the 1999 championship slip away against UConn. He had anchored the 2000 team through the post-exodus rebuild. Now, as a senior, he wanted the one thing that had eluded him: a title.

The supporting cast was extraordinary. Sophomore Jason Williams had evolved from a talented freshman into one of the most electrifying players in college basketball, a fearless scorer who would set the Duke single-season scoring record with 841 points (breaking Dick Groat’s 50-year-old mark). Sophomore Carlos Boozer was a bruising interior force. Sophomore Mike Dunleavy Jr. was a versatile wing who could shoot, pass, and rebound. Senior tri-captain Nate James was the glue. And freshman Chris Duhon arrived as the point guard who would unlock everything — a defensive specialist whose entry into the starting lineup in March would prove to be the masterstroke that won the championship.

The season began with a statement. Duke won the Preseason NIT, and on November 17, 2000, Coach K earned his 500th victory at Duke with a win over Villanova. After the game, the Cameron Indoor Stadium court was officially renamed Coach K Court in a ceremony that acknowledged what everyone already knew: this was the house that Krzyzewski built.

The Blue Devils were ranked #1 for most of the season and looked unstoppable. In a 93-68 win at Temple, Williams went 8-of-10 from three-point range. Five players could hit threes on any given possession — Williams, Duhon, Battier, Dunleavy, and James — making Duke the most prolific three-point shooting team in ACC history, the only team to average 10+ made threes per game.

Then came the Maryland wars. On January 27, #2 Duke played at #8 Maryland in what became one of the most famous regular-season games in ACC history. The Terrapins, led by Juan Dixon and Steve Blake, built a 10-point lead with 54 seconds remaining in regulation. It was over. Except it wasn’t. Williams scored eight points in the final 54 seconds, including two three-pointers in a 13-second span. Nate James hit two free throws to force overtime. In OT, Battier took over, scoring Duke’s last six points and blocking Dixon’s potential game-tying layup at the baseline with four seconds left. Duke won 98-96 in what would be called the “Miracle Minute.”

But the euphoria didn’t last. In the very next game, at home against #4 North Carolina, the Blue Devils lost 85-83 when Brendan Haywood — a 48% free throw shooter — calmly sank two from the line with 1.2 seconds left after Battier fouled him trying to get a steal. Dunleavy had tied the game with a three with 9.3 seconds remaining, and Chris Duhon’s desperation heave at the buzzer hit the back of the rim. Duke had missed 14 free throws. It was the first ACC loss of the season and a devastating emotional crash after the Maryland miracle.

The season’s darkest moment came on February 25 — Shane Battier’s Senior Night at Cameron. Maryland came to Durham and won 91-80, and worse, Carlos Boozer broke his foot during the game. The team’s starting center was done for the foreseeable future. Pundits wrote Duke off. The national championship dream appeared to be over.

Krzyzewski responded with one of the great strategic adjustments of his career. He inserted freshman Duhon into the starting lineup at point guard and moved Williams to shooting guard, creating a smaller, faster, more dynamic backcourt. Casey Sanders stepped in at center. The new lineup was untested and undersized. It was also devastating. Duke won all six games without Boozer, including the pivotal March 4 trip to Chapel Hill.

That game at North Carolina produced the single most iconic defensive play of the Battier era. With Duke leading, Joseph Forte stripped Mike Dunleavy at the top of the key and took off for what he assumed would be an uncontested breakaway dunk. Nobody told Battier. The senior came streaking from behind, timed his leap perfectly, and blocked Forte’s dunk attempt from behind. The Dean Dome went silent. Duke won 95-81, clinching a share of the ACC regular season title without its starting center. It was Battier at his absolute best — the play that defined a career built on effort, intelligence, and refusing to concede anything.

Duke won the ACC Tournament for the third consecutive year, beating Maryland 84-82 when Nate James tipped in the game-winner with 1.3 seconds left, then destroying UNC 79-53 in the championship game — a 19-1 first-half run that buried the Tar Heels. UNC shot 29% and didn’t make a single three-pointer. It was the most dominant ACC Tournament final in years, accomplished without Boozer.

Boozer returned for the Sweet Sixteen, coming off the bench as the NCAA Tournament began. Duke cruised through the East Regional: 95-52 over Monmouth, 94-81 over Missouri, 76-63 over UCLA, and 79-69 over USC. The Blue Devils traveled the same path they’d taken in 1992 — from Greensboro to Philadelphia to Minneapolis — and arrived at the Final Four to face Maryland for the fourth time.

What happened next was the greatest comeback in Final Four history.

Maryland, in its first-ever Final Four, came out with fury. The Terrapins built a 22-point lead in the first half. Duke trailed 39-17. Battier air-balled two shots. Williams was lost. The Maryland cheering section, 5,000 strong in red “Garyland” sweatshirts, smelled blood. During a timeout, Krzyzewski told his players: “You’re losing by so much, you can’t play any worse. So what are you worried about, losing by 40?” Then he did something extraordinary: he stopped calling plays. He told them to just play basketball.

They did. Duke outscored Maryland 31-15 to start the second half, cutting the deficit to four. Williams, who’d been dreadful in the first half, caught fire. His three-pointer gave Duke its first lead, 73-72, with 6:52 remaining. Maryland’s last lead came at 77-76 on a Terence Morris free throw with five minutes left. After that, it was all Duke. Battier finished with 25 points. Williams had 23. Duhon contributed 10 points and six assists. The 95-84 final — an 11-point win after trailing by 22 — was the largest comeback in Final Four history, a record that stood until Kansas overcame a 15-point halftime deficit against North Carolina in the 2022 championship game.

Two nights later, Duke faced Arizona for the national championship. Lute Olson’s Wildcats, led by Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson, had reached the title game on an emotion-filled run after Olson’s wife Bobbi had died of cancer earlier in the season. The first half was tight, with Duke leading 35-33. In the second half, Duke pulled away. Dunleavy led with 21 points, including five three-pointers. Battier played all 40 minutes: 18 points, 11 rebounds, six assists. Boozer recorded 12 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. The 82-72 victory made Duke the first #1-ranked team to win the national championship since UCLA in 1995, and made Krzyzewski just the third coach to win three titles, tying his mentor Bob Knight.

Battier was named NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player. He and Williams swept every major National Player of the Year award — the first time in college basketball history that two teammates from the same school won separate major POY honors. Battier took the AP, Wooden, Naismith, Oscar Robertson, and Adolph Rupp awards; Williams won the NABC honor. Battier won his third consecutive NABC Defensive Player of the Year award and was Academic All-American for the second straight year. Both players’ jerseys were later retired by Duke.

The numbers tell the story of dominance: Duke set an NCAA record with 133 wins over a four-year period. Battier tied the NCAA record for career victories (131). Duke was the first team seeded #1 in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. They finished #1 in the final AP poll for the third consecutive season — only John Wooden’s UCLA had ever done that.

“I thoroughly loved coaching these kids,” Krzyzewski said after the championship. “They’ve been so good. They’ve given me their hearts, their minds, and not only that, they’ve given it to each other. I get real close to the guys on my team. That’s the most rewarding thing about what I do.”

They had played three times already that season. Duke had won twice by a single basket. Maryland had won once by eleven. Now they met in the Final Four — the fourth collision between two teams that genuinely despised each other’s success.

Maryland came out with fury. The Terrapins, in their first-ever Final Four, had nothing to lose and played like it. They built a 22-point lead at 39-17 with 6:57 left in the first half. Battier air-balled two early shots. Williams couldn’t find the range. Duke missed its first eight three-point attempts. Maryland made five of its first six. Five thousand Maryland fans in red “Garyland” sweatshirts smelled blood.

During a timeout, Krzyzewski looked at his shell-shocked players and said: “You’re losing by so much, you can’t play any worse. So what are you worried about, losing by 40?” Then he made one of the most remarkable coaching decisions in tournament history: he stopped calling plays. He told his team to just play basketball. No sets. No clipboard. Just compete.

They did. Duke clawed back to trail 49-38 at halftime — an 11-point deficit that was still the largest halftime hole any team had ever overcome in a Final Four game. Then the second half began, and Duke outscored Maryland 31-15 in the first ten minutes. The Terrapins’ bench began to fracture. Gary Williams screamed at officials. Players argued with each other. Duke’s relentless pressure — the thing K had been building for twenty years — was suffocating them.

Williams, who had been invisible in the first half, caught fire. His three-pointer gave Duke its first lead of the entire game, 73-72, with 6:52 remaining. Maryland took its last lead at 77-76 on a Terence Morris free throw with five minutes left. After that, it was all Duke. Battier finished with 25 points. Williams had 23. Freshman Duhon contributed 10 points and six assists.

The final score was 95-84 — an 11-point victory after trailing by 22. It was the largest comeback in Final Four history, a record that stood for 21 years until Kansas erased a 15-point halftime deficit against North Carolina in the 2022 championship game. Krzyzewski had coached 20 seasons, won two titles, and been to nine Final Fours. Nothing he had ever done compared to what happened in the Metrodome that night.

Two days later, Duke beat Arizona 82-72 for the national championship. But ask anyone who was there — the Maryland game was the title. Everything after that was a coronation.