2000–01 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team
| 2000–2001 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball | |
|---|---|
 |
|
|
National Champions,
ACC Tournament Champions, ACC Regular Season Co-Champions |
|
|
NCAA National Championship Game
vs. Arizona, W, 82–72 |
|
| Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 1 |
| AP | No. 1 |
| 2000–2001 record | 35–4 (13–3 ACC) |
| Head coach | Mike Krzyzewski (21st year) |
| Assistant coach | Johnny Dawkins |
| Assistant coach | Chris Collins |
| Assistant coach | Steve Wojciechowski |
| Home arena | Cameron Indoor Stadium |
The 2000–01 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team was a Division I college basketball team that competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Under the leadership of All-American duo Shane Battier and Jason "Jay" Williams, coach Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils won their third national championship in program history.
Shane Battier entered his senior season as the remaining member of Duke's heralded recruiting class of 1997 which included Elton Brand and William Avery and had nearly led Duke to a championship two years earlier. (Brand and Avery, along with Corey Maggette would become the first Duke underclassmen to leave early for the draft that year.) Despite losing the reigning ACC Player of the Year Chris Carrawell to graduation, the Blue Devils still retained sophomores Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., and Carlos Boozer and welcomed the addition of freshman Chris Duhon to their lineup.
On January 27, 2001, the second-ranked Blue Devils played at eighth-ranked Maryland Terrapins in what would become the first of four contests between these two ACC rivals that year. With Duke trailing by 10 points with 54 seconds left in regulation, Williams scored eight points, including two three-pointers, in a 13-second span and James hit two free throws to send this game into overtime. In overtime Battier blocked a layup by Juan Dixon at the baseline with 4 seconds left to preserve a 98–96 victory.
However, the Blue Devils stumbled in the next game at home against their archrival, fourth-ranked North Carolina by a score of 85–83. A month later, Maryland would avenge their previous home loss to Duke when the No. 16 Terrapins defeated the No. 2 Blue Devils 91–80 on Shane Battier's Senior Night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. After center Carlos Boozer had to leave with a foot injury in that game, coach Krzyzewski decided to change his game strategy, favoring a smaller, quicker lineup by having Duhon start at point guard and moving Williams over to shooting guard. His plan was successful in his next game at North Carolina, when Duke defeated the No. 4 Tar Heels 95–81 to claim a share of the regular season championship. With many pundits having written Duke off after Boozer's injury, the new-look Blue Devils in fact went on to win all 6 of its following games before Boozer rejoined the team in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
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