2013-14

Season Overview

The 2013-14 Duke Blue Devils were a team defined by extraordinary offensive talent and a defensive vulnerability that ultimately proved fatal. Freshman Jabari Parker — the #1 recruit in America, the kid on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the son of an NBA player and a devout Mormon family from Chicago’s South Side — arrived alongside Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood, and together they formed the most potent scoring tandem Duke had fielded since J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams.

Parker averaged 19.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, shooting 54.3% from the field. He was named ACC Rookie of the Year and earned consensus first-team All-American honors — the first Duke freshman to achieve that since Austin Rivers, and only the seventh in program history. His 30-point, 11-rebound destruction of #14 North Carolina at Cameron Indoor was the season’s signature performance. Roy Williams said afterward: “It’s hard to say what ‘it’ is, but whatever the hell ‘it’ is, Jabari found it.”

Hood was the perfect complement. The 6-8 wing from Meridian, Mississippi averaged 16.1 points on 51.0% shooting and 41.7% from three — the kind of efficient, smooth scorer who let the game come to him and rarely forced anything. Junior Quinn Cook ran the point and led the ACC in assists at 6.2 per game while adding 12.7 points. Senior Tyler Thornton started 25 games as the defensive anchor. Senior Andre Dawkins returned for a final season after a year away — the last remaining player from the 2010 national championship team. Sophomore Rasheed Sulaimon contributed 7.5 points off the bench, and sophomore Amile Jefferson provided rebounding and energy. Freshmen Matt Jones and Semi Ojeleye added depth.

The season began with a Battle 4 Atlantis championship in the Bahamas. Duke beat four top-5 opponents and spent time ranked #1. On January 25, K earned his 900th career victory at Duke with a win over Florida State. But the cracks were there from the start. In the ACC opener, Duke lost 79-77 to Notre Dame — the first time K had lost to one of his former assistant coaches after 18 consecutive wins. The loss dropped Duke from the AP top 10 for the first time in 122 weeks, a streak that had run since November 2007.

The defense was the persistent problem. Duke ranked outside the top 100 nationally in defensive efficiency for much of the season — an anomaly for a Krzyzewski team. The talent on the perimeter was undeniable, but the interior was thin. Without a rim protector like Mason Plumlee, opponents attacked the paint at will. Duke was 26-6 entering the NCAA Tournament but had nine losses, the most in a K-era team to receive a top-four seed.

The UNC rivalry games showcased both the ceiling and the inconsistency. At Cameron Indoor on February 13, Parker erupted for a season-high 30 points and 11 rebounds, and Hood added 24, as #4 Duke demolished #14 UNC in one of the most dominant performances in the rivalry’s modern history. The return game at Chapel Hill saw UNC exact revenge as the Tar Heels controlled the game from start to finish.

Duke reached the ACC Tournament championship game, where Virginia — playing in its first ACC title game since 1976 — controlled the tempo and won 72-63. Parker scored 23 but was 9-of-24 from the field. K earned a technical foul for throwing a marker.

As the #3 seed in the Midwest Region, Duke faced #14 Mercer in the Round of 64 in Raleigh. What followed was one of the most stunning upsets of the K era. Mercer, led by a roster of five seniors playing in their first NCAA Tournament since 1985, shot 56% from the field and 58% in the second half. Duke led 63-58 with under five minutes remaining, then went scoreless for nearly four minutes. Mercer closed on an 18-8 run. Jakob Gollon scored 20 and Daniel Coursey had 17. Parker was held to 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting with four turnovers. Hood managed just 6 points. “They sliced us up,” Hood said. “There’s no other way to put it.”

Only 3.3% of ESPN Tournament Challenge brackets picked Mercer to win. It was K’s fifth first-round loss in 29 tournament appearances.

Parker declared for the NBA Draft and was selected #2 overall by the Milwaukee Bucks. Hood went #23 to the Utah Jazz. The season ended with the bitter aftertaste of wasted potential — a team that could score on anyone but couldn’t stop anyone, a team with two future first-round picks that couldn’t survive a 14-seed. The incoming freshman Tyus Jones, watching from afar, texted K after the Mercer loss: “This won’t happen next year.”

Duke led 63-58 with under five minutes remaining against a Mercer team making its first NCAA appearance since 1985. The Bears' five seniors had nothing to lose and everything to prove. What followed was a collapse that haunts Duke fans to this day. Duke went scoreless for nearly four minutes. Mercer shot 58% in the second half, slicing through Duke's porous defense with ease. Jakob Gollon scored 20 and Daniel Coursey had 17. Parker, the likely #2 pick in the NBA Draft, was held to 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting with four turnovers. Hood had just 6 points. The final score was 78-71. 'They sliced us up,' Hood said. 'There's no other way to put it.' It was K's fifth first-round loss in 29 tournament appearances and the second time in three years a mid-major had ended Duke's season in the opening round (Lehigh in 2012). Watching from afar, incoming freshman Tyus Jones texted Coach K: 'This won't happen next year.'