Things were really different for Duke Basketball in 1989. The Blue Devils had broken through in 1986 with Mike Krzyzewski’s first Final Four trip. Duke missed in 1987 but got to the Sweet Sixteen. And then from 1988 to 1992, the Blue Devils made it to the Final Four.
Until 1991 though, there was a real sense that while admirable, Duke just couldn’t win the big one.
That was obviously true in 1989. Duke was very good but flawed. Danny Ferry was the star and he was surrounded by Robert Brickey, who was essentially a 6-5 center, Alaa Abdelnaby, a gifted but unpredictable 6-10 forward, Quin Snyder, a 6-3 guard and Phil Henderson, who after this season, we think, seriously talked of transferring before deciding to come back for his senior season. This was a time when people did not quickly transfer.
Also on the team: freshmen Brian Davis and Christian Laettner, Greg Koubek and senior John Smith.Although Brad Brownell has made Clemson relevant, for most of the history of Tiger Basketball, Clemson was mostly irrelevant.
That was true in this game as well, as Duke ran away from the Tigers, winning 92-62.
However, in something that rarely happened under Coach K, Duke came in on a three-game losing streak. They worked out a lot of issues in this one as you’ll see in the comments after the game, ultimately getting back to the Final Four again.
