Duke basketball jerseys are as popular on the campus at Durham North Carolina as they are with college basketball fans across the country (unless you happen to be a student/alumnus of a certain cross town rival 8 miles away at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Duke is one of the most successful college basketball programs in the country, and much of that success has come in the last 30 years, under head coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K).

Under Coach K, the Duke Blue Devils have won 4 National Titles (1991, 1992, 2001 & 2010) and has been runnerup another 6 times. In the 1992 season, Duke was ranked #1 for the entire season, a season that included the greatest basketball game ever played.

Duke’s most memorable moment came in the Elite Eight round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament against Kentucky. Wearing their white jerseys, trailing 102 – 103 in overtime, with 2.1 seconds left, Grant Hill made a full court pass to Christian Laettner who drilled a turn around jump shot as time expired. Known simply as ‘the shot’, it was voted the 5th most unforgettable moment in all of sports in 2006 by Fox/MSN Sports. The game itself, is widely considered to be the greatest basketball game of all time (college or NBA).

The sight of a Duke basketball jersey is very familiar in the NCAA Tournament, with 33 appearances. Their success is not just limited to tournament play (after their 65 – 61 vistory over Georgia Tech in the 2010 Tournament they now have 18 ACC Tournament Championships, one more than rival UNC) as they have also won the ACC regular season title 18 times. So although Duke has one of the biggest home court advantages with the Cameron Crazies (the white jerseys aren’t really that intimidating), they also get it done when they swicth to their blue jerseys and head to UNC, NC State, Wake, Georgia Tech, Clemson and every other ACC and non-conference opponent.

Duke Fans - Image From Newsweek

In terms of overall college basketball dominance, Duke is the 4th winningest men’s college basketball program of all time.

Duke is 2nd all time (behind UCLA) in both total number of weeks ranked #1 with 110, and in consecutive weeks ranked in the Top 25 with 200.  

The success of Duke basketball goes beyond the blue and white jerseys (and even the black alternate jersey), with 11 players having been selected as the National Player of the Year (most recently JJ Redickin 2005), and with 71 former players being drafted into the NBA. In fact, during the 2008 – 2009 NBA season there were more former Duke players in the NBA than from any other school.

So whether you like the old school Duke with Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, Danny Ferry, Elton Brand and Shane Battier, or the more recent Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer version, whoever is talented enough to wear a Duke basketball jersey, and step onto Coach K Court inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, carries on a tradition of basketball excellence. You can also become a part of that tradition, by showing your support and devotion with your own Duke basketball jersey, even the practice jerseys look great.

Did you know that the Duke nickname ‘The Blue Devils’, was taken from a reknowned French WWI alpine light infantry battalion known as ‘les diables bleus’. 

In case you’ve forgotten how it looked, here it is, Christian Laettner’s last seond shot to beat Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA Elite Eight – The Greatest basketball game ever played. Duke wins 104 – 103 in overtime.

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