WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Duke stars recall miracles of 1991, '92

By Bob Holliday

Jun 3, 2009

It's still one of the most talked about moments in college basketball - Christian Laettner's shot to beat Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament in 1992.

Thomas Hill watched the drama unfold. Images of Hill looking on in disbelief are seen again and again when clips of Laettner's miraculous shot are replayed.

"I still can remember how the gym smelled," Hill says. "It was just amazing."

The last-second win over Kentucky wasn't that Duke team's first monumental moment. The year before, the Blue Devils, with largely the same group of players, pulled off one of the great upsets in college basketball history, beating undefeated Nevada Las Vegas in the semifinals of the 1991 Final Four.

"That year, I didn't think we were the best team," Coach Mike Krzyzewski recalled. “But to win that game, and then come back the next year and win the championship again, as time goes on I don't think you're going to see that very often in college basketball."

Point guard Bobby Hurley believes the win over UNLV resulted from his team's mental toughness.

"They had beaten us really badly the year before," Hurley said. "We vowed we would not let that happen again."

In 1992, Duke, after surviving the epic game against Kentucky, defeated Michigan's "Fab Five," for back-to-back national championships.

"You could say we were the first of the modern era," Hill said, "where you had to win six games to win the championship."

Before Duke in 91-92, no team since the UCLA dynasty had won back to back titles. In the 1960s and 1970s, when the Bruins won seven championships in a row, a team only had to win four games to claim the NCAA title.

In the modern era, alongside Duke, only the Florida Gators have won back to back titles.

"I live in Central Florida," Grant Hill quipped. "We don't count that, because all their guys went on to the NBA."

Three members of Duke's 1991-92 teams are taking part as counselors at the K Academy, for adult basketball campers. Grant Hill said prior to this re-union, he had Hurley had not seen each other in five or six years.

"We can't jump as high now," Grant Hill observed, "and the bad haircuts are gone. But the bonds still remain."