2020-21

Season Overview

The 2020-21 Duke Blue Devils played college basketball in an alternate dimension. Cameron Indoor Stadium — the most electric home court in America — sat empty. The players lived in a hotel, isolated from the campus and the student body. Classes were on Zoom. Games were constantly cancelled, postponed, or rescheduled. COVID-19 testing protocols meant that a single positive result could shut down the entire program overnight. And for the first time in a quarter century, Duke was not going to the NCAA Tournament.

The season was K's 41st, and by every measure it was his worst. Duke finished 13-11 overall and 9-9 in ACC play — tenth in the conference, the lowest finish of the Krzyzewski era. The Blue Devils were never ranked after the first two weeks. They lost to Michigan State at home in December, lost to Illinois, and then voluntarily cancelled the rest of their nonconference schedule to allow players to go home for the holidays. When ACC play began, the inconsistency was staggering: a seven-game stretch from late January through mid-February saw Duke go 2-5, including losses to Miami, Notre Dame, and Louisville — teams that would finish in the middle or bottom of the conference.

The roster had talent but never cohesion. Sophomore Matthew Hurt was the team's best player, emerging as one of the ACC's most dangerous stretch-fours. His shooting improved dramatically from freshman year — he averaged 18.3 points per game on 44.4% from three, the highest scoring average by a Duke player since Grayson Allen in 2015-16. He led the entire ACC in scoring and won the conference's Most Improved Player award, the first Duke player ever to receive the honor. His 37-point game against Louisville was Duke's highest individual output since JJ Redick in 2006.

Freshman Jalen Johnson had been the class's highest-rated recruit — a 6-9 forward from Nicolet High School in Wisconsin with guard skills and projected lottery-pick potential. He opened the season with 19 points and 19 rebounds against Coppin State, a debut that suggested a Zion-level impact. Then it unraveled. Johnson suffered a foot injury in December, missed three games, and was never the same after returning. His minutes decreased. He moved from the starting lineup to the bench. Off-court tension between his camp and the coaching staff simmered. On February 15, Johnson announced he was opting out of the remainder of the season to prepare for the NBA Draft, leaving the team at 8-8 and in the middle of a losing streak.

The reaction was severe. Roy Williams, when asked about the concept of players opting out, said what many were thinking — that opting out meant quitting. Duke fans were even less charitable. Johnson's departure exposed the fragility of the one-and-done model when things aren't going well: the brotherhood only holds when winning is easy. K, to his credit, was publicly supportive. 'I'm a coach because of players,' he said. 'These kids should have the choice to do whatever they want. I'm 100% behind him.'

Johnson would be drafted #20 by the Atlanta Hawks and has since developed into an All-Star caliber player — vindicating, in some sense, the talent evaluation while leaving the questions about his Duke tenure unanswered.

The freshmen who stayed — DJ Steward (a dynamic scoring guard from Chicago), Jeremy Roach (a steady point guard from Virginia who would become a four-year starter), and Mark Williams (a 7-1 center from Norfolk, Virginia who barely played early but emerged late as a rim protector) — showed growth in the second half. Sophomore Wendell Moore Jr. was inconsistent but gutsy, and Jordan Goldwire provided his usual defensive energy as a senior.

The rivalry with North Carolina produced a split. At Cameron on February 6, Duke fell 91-73 in an empty arena — one of the most lopsided losses in the rivalry's recent history, made surreal by the silence where the Cameron Crazies should have been. UNC's Garrison Brooks and Caleb Love torched Duke, and the game was never competitive after halftime. The rematch at Chapel Hill on March 6 was closer — UNC won 91-87 in a game Duke very nearly stole late, with Steward and Moore making it a one-possession game in the final seconds before UNC closed it out.

Duke entered the ACC Tournament needing a run to have any chance at an at-large bid. They beat Boston College 86-51 in the first round, with Steward, Roach, and Goldwire all playing well simultaneously for perhaps the first time all season. They beat Louisville 70-56 the next day — impressive, given that the Cardinals had beaten them twice in the regular season. For a few hours, hope flickered.

Then, on Thursday morning — hours before Duke's quarterfinal against Florida State — a member of the program's Tier 1 personnel tested positive for COVID-19. Contact tracing protocols kicked in. Duke withdrew from the tournament. Athletic director Kevin White released a statement: 'Since last March when the pandemic started, we have listened to our medical experts and always put safety at the forefront of any determinations regarding competition. As a result, this will end our 2020-21 season.'

Selection Sunday came and went. Duke's name was not called. The 24-year consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak — the second-longest active streak in college basketball, the third-longest in history — was over. Duke declined an NIT invitation. The season was done.

For Krzyzewski, it was a humbling coda to a stretch of years that had produced Zion, Barrett, and the most culturally significant team in college basketball history. For the program, it was a reminder that even the most successful machine can break down when the circumstances are hostile enough. COVID took away the fans, the energy, the normalcy — and with it, the connective tissue that makes a Duke season feel like a Duke season.

Hurt declared for the NBA Draft (selected #37 by the Memphis Grizzlies, traded to the Dallas Mavericks). Steward declared (#undrafted, signed a two-way deal). Johnson went #20 to Atlanta. Goldwire transferred to Oklahoma for a fifth year. Moore, Roach, Baker, and Williams all returned — and the returning core would form the foundation of something much bigger the following season, when K would announce his retirement and Duke would play for a national championship.

Duke had beaten Boston College and Louisville on consecutive days — the best the Blue Devils had looked all season, with Hurt scoring efficiently and the freshman guards finally clicking. For a few hours, hope flickered that Duke might make a tournament run. Then, on Thursday morning, hours before the quarterfinal against Florida State, a Tier 1 member tested positive. Contact tracing kicked in. Duke withdrew. Kevin White's statement was clinical: 'This will end our 2020-21 season.' Selection Sunday came and went without Duke's name. The 24-year consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak — dating to 1996 — was over. Duke declined the NIT. For the first time since 1995, there would be no March Madness for the Blue Devils. 'After going an entire season with no positive COVID-19 tests among our student-athletes and coaching staff,' White said, 'one member of our program tested positive following Wednesday's ACC Tournament game.' One positive test. One season-ending result.