Featherston: Career Highs, Classic Thrillers Highlight Historic Senior Day Memories

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke's Senior Day ? the final regular season home game each year ? has produced an amazing number of memorable moments, including the career scoring highs for two great Blue Devil players, at least two classic thrillers and one of the strangest games in school history.

Duke doesn't always win on Senior Day. Since Dick Groat's finale in 1952, The Blue Devils are 39-17 on Senior Day. More than half of those games have come against North Carolina (Duke is 19-11 against the Tar Heels on Senior Day).

Coach Mike Krzyzewski's teams are 17-10 on Senior Day, including 8-6 against North Carolina.

Here's a look at some of the most memorable Senior Day games in Duke history:

Feb. 29, 1952: All-American Dick Groat scored a career high 48 points in a 94-64 victory over North Carolina.

Groat, Duke's first national player of the year, had set a school scoring record earlier in the season when he had 46 points against George Washington. He got off to a late start in the finale against UNC ? his father, who had driven down from Pennsylvania to see his son's last home game, fell in the parking lot and hurt his knee. The game was delayed half an hour while the elder Groat was checked at Duke Hospital (it wasn't serious).

Games were divided into quarters in those days and Groat had 26 points at the end of three quarters. Then he got hot ? pouring in 22 more points in the final 10 minutes to set a new school scoring record. Coach Hal Bradley pulled him with 15 seconds left, replacing the All-American with future Duke assistant coach Fred Shabel.
Feb 23, 1963: All-American Art Heyman scored a career high 40 points in a 106-93 victory over North Carolina.

Heyman, who originally signed a letter-of-intent to play at UNC, lost his first meeting to the Tar Heels as a freshman in the 1959 Dixie Classic. He never lost to UNC again, leading Duke to victories in five straight wins over the Heels.

His Senior Day game was never in doubt as Heyman ? matched most of the game against future NBA all-star Billy Cunningham -- poured in 40 points and pulled down 24 rebounds to help Duke finish atop the ACC with a perfect 14-0 record.
Feb. 25, 1964: Three senior three-year starters led Duke's 98-83 rout Wake Forest, the ACC's second-place team, as the Blue Devils gave Coach Vic Bubas his second of four straight ACC regular season championships

All-American Jeff Mullins led the way with 26 points and eight rebounds. Center Jay Buckley, whose son Clay would play on Duke's 1991 and 1992 national championship teams, added 21 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Buzzy Harrison contributed 16 points.

The 1964 Blue Devils would later rout Wake Forest again in the ACC title game en route to Duke's first appearance in the NCAA title game.
Feb. 26, 1966: Jack Marin and Steve Vacendak combined for 37 points as No. 2 Duke coasted past North Carolina, 77-63.

The 6-3 Vacendak had 20 points and nine assists, while the 6-6 Marin added 17 points and eight rebounds. Marin and junior Bob Verga would make the All-ACC first team in the voting the next week. Vacendak, a second-team pick, would win ACC player of the year honors after leading Duke to the ACC Tournament title.
Feb. 21, 1967: All-American Bob Verga made his last home game a memorable one as he poured in 30 points to help Duke beat Wake Forest 97-84.

Fellow senior Bob Reidy added 20 points and nine rebounds, while junior center Mike Lewis helped his two senior teammates out with 28 points and 24 rebounds.
Mar. 2, 1968: All-American Mike Lewis was overshadowed by junior reserve Fred Lind on his Senior Day as Duke stunned No. 3 ranked North Carolina 87-86 in triple overtime.

Lewis, the burly 6-7 center from Missoula, Mt., was plagued by foul trouble in his final home game. Still, he contributed 18 points and 18 rebounds before he was banished to the bench with five minutes left in regulation. Lind, a junior from Illinois, had scored a total of just 12 points in Duke's first 22 games that season.

But he replaced Lewis on this Senior Day and poured in 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds to help the Devils topple the Tar Heels and claim a second-place ACC finish. A year later, on Mar. 1, 1969, Lind started and played all 40 minutes, contributing 18 points and 10 rebounds as Duke upset No. 2 North Carolina 87-81 on HIS Senior Day. Fellow senior Steve Vandenberg scored 33 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Devils.
Mar. 6, 1971: Randy Denton, one of the most unheralded stars in Duke basketball history, went out in style as the 6-10 big man led the Blue Devils to a 92-83 victory over No. 14 North Carolina in his Senior Day game.

Denton had 24 points and 10 rebounds in his finale. Senior point guard Dick DeVenzio added 11 assists (and six points), senior forward Rick Katherman added 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting and senior reserve Steve Litz hit his only shot for two points.

Denton would finish his three-year varsity career averaging 19.7 points and 12.7 rebounds.
Feb. 24, 1979: Jim Spanarkel's Senior Day game turned into one of the strangest afternoons in ACC basketball history as Duke held UNC scoreless for a half before knocking off the No. 4-ranked Tar Heels 47-40.

UNC held the ball throughout the first half, but Duke led 7-0 as Spanarkel forced two turnovers, assisted on a basket to Mike Gminski and scored the last bucket of the half on a short jumper. The senior guard added 15 points in the second half and finished with a game-high 17, hitting 8-of-9 field goal attempts.

The win allowed Duke to tie UNC for the ACC regular season title.
Mar. 20, 1980: All-American Mike Gminski had one of the greatest days in his career to help Duke upset No. 12 Clemson 87-82 in overtime in his Senior Day game.

Gminski had 29 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks in his final home game as Duke knocked off what would turn out to the most successful NCAA team in Clemson history. Led by Larry Nance and Billy Williams, the Tigers would reach the NCAA West Regional finals before losing to UCLA.
Feb. 28, 1981: All-American Gene Banks hit not one, but two dramatic, last-second shots to give unranked Duke a 66-65 overtime victory over a North Carolina team that would later reach the NCAA title game.

Banks, who threw roses to the Cameron crowd during introductions, scored 25 points (hitting 12-of-18 field goal attempts) and pulled down seven rebounds ? including a rebound of Vince Taylor's late miss that he put back for the winning basket in overtime.

However, his game-tying basket in regulation was even more memorable. With Duke down two points and just one second left, fellow senior Kenny Dennard (16 points and five rebounds in his Senior Day game) inbounded the ball to Banks at the top of the key. The 6-7 forward caught the ball and in one motion, launched a high-arching shot that just missed the outstretched fingertips of UNC center Sam Perkins. The ball dropped through at the buzzer, giving Banks his chance to win it in overtime.
Mar. 2, 1986: The highest-scoring class in Duke basketball history ? and the one that established Coach Mike Krzyzewski's program -- said goodbye to the Cameron crowd with an 84-72 Senior Day victory over North Carolina.

The win clinched Duke's first outright regular season title in 20 years (the 1979 team shared the title with UNC) by one game over Georgia Tech.

Senior David Henderson led the scoring parade with 27 points. Senior Johnny Dawkins added 21 and senior Mark Alarie scored 16 points. Senior starting center Jay Bilas went scoreless, but little-used senior reserve Weldon Williams scored two points. That quintet, along with original classmate Bill Jackman (who left after one year at Duke) finished with a combined total of 7,537 points ? the most ever scored by a single recruiting class in NCAA history.
Feb. 23, 1989: All-American Danny Ferry was at the top of his game as No. 9 Duke knocked off No. 17 N.C. State 86-65 to take over first place in the ACC standings.

The 6-10 Ferry had 26 points, seven rebounds and two assists, while fellow seniors Quin Snyder (five points, six assists) and John Smith (eight points, six rebounds) also made significant contributions.
Mar. 8, 1992: All-American Christian Laettner scored 26 points, hitting 5-of-8 3-pointers and adding eight rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots in an 89-77 victory over No. 16 North Carolina.

The No. 1 Blue Devils had already clinched the ACC regular season title, but the win in Cameron was sweet payback after UNC's 75-73 victory in Chapel Hill ? one of just two losses suffered by Duke en route to a second straight national championship.
Mar. 3, 1993: All-American Bobby Hurley passed to Erik Meek on a basket in Duke's 95-79 rout of Maryland. The assist allowed the senior point guard to break the NCAA career assist total in his final home game.

The pass to Meek was one of 12 assists Hurley passed out in his home finale. He added 19 points (hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers) and three steals. He would finish his career with 1,076 career assists ? an NCAA record that still stands.
Feb. 28, 1998: Senior point guard Steve Wojciechowski scored just one point, but helped spark Duke's comeback from a 17-point second half deficit as No. 1 Duke edged No. 3 North Carolina 77-75 to give Mike Krzyzewski his 500th career victory.

“It was one of the greatest one-point performances in the history of the game,” Krzyzewski told the media afterwards. “He was remarkable. Not just good ? Steve Wojciechowski was remarkable. He would not let us lose.”

Wojo finished the game with 11 assists, three steals and just one turnover.
Mar. 4, 2000: All-American Chris Carrawell closed out his home career by leading No. 4 Duke to an easy 90-76 victory over North Carolina.

Carrawell, en route to clinching the ACC player of the year award, contributed 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals to the easy win ? which ran Duke's winning streak over the Tar Heels to five straight.
Mar. 6, 2004: Chris Duhon led No. 3 Duke to a 70-65 victory over No. 14 North Carolina as the Devils clinched the regular season ACC title on Senior Day in Cameron.

Duhon contributed 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in the victory. He also contributed to the key play in the game. With Duke leading 68-65 in the closing seconds, he teamed with sophomore J.J. Redick to trap UNC's Rashad McCants on the sideline in front of the Tar Heel bench. McCants was unable to attempt the game-tying 3-point shot ... instead, he turned the ball over in the double-team and Duke clinched the game with two Redick free throws.

Duhon completed his career with a 9-2 record versus the Tar Heels.

Featherston: Career Highs, Classic Thrillers Highlight Historic Senior Day Memories

Related News

Related Videos

Duke information