Since Mike Krzyzewski arrived in Durham in 1980, Duke has had some great basketball teams full of superstars who went on to star in the NBA. Five of them (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 and 2016) would bring home the national title, while others fell just short.
But which of these teams was the greatest? CBS Sports recently polled close to 100 college coaches and asked who they thought were the greatest teams of this century, so the years of Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill and others don’t count.
Still, a couple of Duke teams ranked high, including the 2000-01 team, which received 14 percent of the votes, trailing only the 2023-24 UConn squad (17 percent).
That team certainly was special, with Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer and Shane Battier
leading the way to Duke and Coach K’s third national title.
"In my opinion, Jason Williams is the best college point guard of all time. Carlos Boozer, Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Chris Duhon,” one coach said. “As a coach, I would have had nightmares in an attempt to game-plan for this squad."
The 2000-01 Duke squad finished 35-4, defeating Arizona 82-72 in the national title game. In his senior season, Battier won all but one of the national player of the year awards, with Williams collecting the other.
“They had every quality,” another coach said. “Elite talent, veteran leadership, NBA players at every position, and they finished the job.”
The following year’s squad also received a vote for being the best team this century. Williams returned and won national player of the year, but the Blue Devils were upset by Indiana in the Sweet 16.
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This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: National champion Duke team named among best this century
