2015-16

The Last Plumlee, The First Superteam Freshman, and Eight Who Were Enough. The defending champions lose four starters to the NBA and only 23% of their scoring returns — the most devastating roster turnover of the K era. Then Amile Jefferson, the senior captain and the team’s most experienced player, goes down with a foot injury after nine games. Duke is left with a six-man rotation, a sophomore star in Grayson Allen who’d never been a lead player, and a lanky freshman from Kinston named Brandon Ingram who starts the year looking like he’s still in high school. Marshall Plumlee — the third Plumlee brother, a career reserve, the happy kid nobody expected much from — transforms into a leader and logs 30 minutes a night. Allen makes the leap from role player to All-American, averaging 21.6 points. Ingram becomes ACC Freshman of the Year. They win 25 games and reach the Sweet 16 with the youngest, thinnest roster K has ever coached. Oregon ends it 82-68, and K says: “They were the better team. That was pretty obvious.” But what this team accomplished with what it had was anything but obvious. The end of the Plumlee era. The dawn of the Superteam age.