Jay Bilas is best known now as a universally respected broadcaster. A lot of people may not even know that 40 years ago, he was part of the class that helped boost Duke into the elite.
When he was a freshman, along with Mark Alarie, David Henderson, Weldon Williams, and Johnny Dawkins, Bilas was a still-slender teenager with an impressive head of hair.
As a sophomore, he muscled up and became Duke’s inside strength, despite being just 6-8.
Bilas likes to make fun of his athletic ability, and to be sure,
there were more athletic players, but he’s not as bad as he likes to joke that he is.
There are several impressive dunks on this highlight video, and more impressively, he anticipates a steal that he then takes coast-to-coast, and also a highly impressive rejection at UNC, although we can’t tell who the Tar Heel was who got snuffed.
Anyway, it’s a much more impressive highlight reel than you might think. Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie, and Tommy Amaker get the most credit for that era’s success, but there’s no way they won 37 games in 1986 without a major contribution from Bilas
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