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How did you become a Duke fan?

J

Jjallen

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Oct 20, 2019
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Maybe this is stupid but I’m just curious. There are many of us who spend a lot of time to come to this forum to talk about a team with complete strangers. I have been coming to this forum for almost ten years and I’ve just been curious to what made everyone become such a big Duke basketball fan. Did you go to school at Duke? Did a relative go there? Was it 91, 92? JJ? Battier?

Me… my grandmother was actually a unc alumni who just loved college basketball. She loved it so much that she liked Duke as well. She had me (7 years old) write a letter to coach k after 91. Coach k wrote me back and I’ve been a die-hard fan since. She is in the only person I have ever known to be a die hard Duke and unc fan. I think she liked unc slightly better but never had the heart to tell me.
 
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Came over in 87...ended up at Illinois St coaching soccer...room mate was a Penn State alum and loved college hoops so we watched it all the time and went to Redbird games. Duke was on TV alot and i liked the way Coach K gave kudos to the other team win or lose and his fire on the sidelines. Read a book or two of his and picked Duke because of him..the rest is history...
 
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I was a big college basketball fan growing up in the 60’s - grew up outside of New Haven and was a huge Yale fan - but always liked Duke as one of the potential challengers to UCLA. I attended Duke,, graduated in ‘75, and while those weren’t stellar Duke years, my passion for Duke BB (and football) only grew. I’ve been to 5 Final Fours, fortunate to see 3 NC’s (2001, 2010 and 2015) and expect to attend more!
 
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I attended St. John's. I became a Duke fan my senior year of high school. Before that I was a St. John's fan when they had Chris Mullin. I still cheer for both. I became a fan mostly because I liked the 86 team, particularly Dawkins and Amaker. I probably became a big Duke fan for the 90, 91, 92 run.
 
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Mom Is from Kentucky and my papaw on that side was a huge UK fan.. my parents (dads from NC) got married in 1988 and when they’d go visit they’d always watch college basketball. My dad got to liking it so decided to pick a team and liked watching Duke and said there was too many Carolina fans so he picked Duke.. got in at a good time haha. I was born in 90 so grew up a Duke fan
 
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Grew up in a Methodist Church. The church would take trips to Duke to attend service at the Chapel. Loved the campus. As I got older we would go to the youth Saturday football game and a lot of times the blue/white game was on the same day. Didn't need a ticket for it, just be in line. When I was in Jr high one of the older guys in our youth group got accepted and attended Duke. This opened up a whole new aspect of the Duke experience. Duke was my dream school, but my high school exploits didn't allow me to attend. I wasn't a bad student in high school but when they gave the test scores that would get you into college I said cool, hit that number and moved on. I just love everything Duke. Still visit the campus as often as I can just to walk around and see what's new.

Both my daughters got accepted but one chose Wingate and the other Liberty. They still love Duke. 😀
 
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jeffrey236 said:
I was a big college basketball fan growing up in the 60’s - grew up outside of New Haven and was a huge Yale fan - but always liked Duke as one of the potential challengers to UCLA. I attended Duke,, graduated in ‘75, and while those weren’t stellar Duke years, my passion for Duke BB (and football) only grew. I’ve been to 5 Final Fours, fortunate to see 3 NC’s (2001, 2010 and 2015) and expect to attend more!
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Jeffrey if you graduated in '75 you're an OFC: @Willcampbell, @Devilinside, @skysdad (wherever he is), myself and a few others. WELCOME!!!

OFC
 
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I am not from North Carolina. What is a wuffie? I guess Wolfpack.
 
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1988..12/13 y/o...I have a uncle/brother, 4 years apart that use to talk about this guy called Coach K and this player named Johnny Dawkins...and then this player named Danny Ferry....i took a peek and been hooked ever since...I also remember watching the 1986 natty game
 
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christophero said:
I attended St. John's. I became a Duke fan my senior year of high school. Before that I was a St. John's fan when they had Chris Mullin. I still cheer for both. I became a fan mostly because I liked the 86 team, particularly Dawkins and Amaker. I probably became a big Duke fan for the 90, 91, 92 run.
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That is exact year I started following Duke also 1986. Johnny Dawkins and Jay Bilas on their run all the way to the Championship Game against Louisville and P. Ellison. I was hooked ever since. It’s been amazing ride over almost 40 years. Crazy how time flies by and the players that I have witnessed. And obviously Coach K run.
 
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Not to be a get off my lawn guy but a lot of the reasons I started following Duke do not exist anymore. They seemed very old school to me; almost a throw back. They were student athletes and Duke almost seemed like an Ivy League school who was good at basketball. College just seemed very different than the pros. It's not just Duke that has changed it's college basketball. Last year was nice getting those guys back, but now we've had 2 out of 3 years of getting just two guys back. Mac is right; we never know what the chemistry will be like. We have all the pieces on paper; but what happens when a transfer is getting more minutes than the freshman? I don't think it's as easy as "recruit the best high school talent"; clearly these top 25 guys do not want to wait anymore, and it is waaay too easy to transfer. I think most top 25 guys view more than 2 years of school as a failure.
 
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Hate to admit it, but when I was about 10, which was 1983, I was a tar hole fan. Only because that's who my classmates pulled for. I remember my dad waking me up in 84 when Indiana upset the holes in the tournament. He was happy, I wasn't. He was a Duke fan, and would complain about Dean and the holes getting calls. I started to see what he was saying, and by 86, I was officially a Duke fan, never looking back.

You guys that started pulling for Duke around the Elton Brand years, or possibly later, have no idea what it used to be like being a Duke fan, especially if you lived in North Carolina. If you think hole fans are bad now? They were insufferable as K was playing second fiddle to Dean. It seemed to change in 91.
 
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Like Mac, I was a Cheater fan growing up. I liked their style of play with Wuycik, Chamberlain, etc. I actually had to decide between attending UnX and Duke and chose Duke because it had more of a national reputation even in the early 70's. Then, I learned to hate them with a passion due to the attitude of their fans in NC.

I could see the cheater scandal coming so it didn't really surprise me, but it confirmed what I already thought of them.

Anyhow, I bleed Duke Blue, and root for Duke in any competition from basketball to football to lawn darts if they had a team. The money I give as an alum is almost all athletic related. I still believe that Duke runs its athletic programs as cleanly as you can considering the times we live in.
 
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I started watching in the early 80's. I played CYO and freshman/JV basketball (I sucked), and for whatever reason, Duke was on TV a lot. Coach K was new, and the program was not the blueblood/national powerhouse they would become. They were up and comers along with K. I too admired young Coach K's grit and fire!

I do hate now when people hear I am a Duke fan when they think I jumped on the bandwagon after the 3rd or 4th national championship.

My first son applied and was wait listed at Duke 10 years ago, that was my big chance to get to Cameron! Someday.....
 
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christophero said:
Not to be a get off my lawn guy but a lot of the reasons I started following Duke do not exist anymore. They seemed very old school to me; almost a throw back. They were student athletes and Duke almost seemed like an Ivy League school who was good at basketball. College just seemed very different than the pros. It's not just Duke that has changed it's college basketball. Last year was nice getting those guys back, but now we've had 2 out of 3 years of getting just two guys back. Mac is right; we never know what the chemistry will be like. We have all the pieces on paper; but what happens when a transfer is getting more minutes than the freshman? I don't think it's as easy as "recruit the best high school talent"; clearly these top 25 guys do not want to wait anymore, and it is waaay too easy to transfer. I think most top 25 guys view more than 2 years of school as a failure.
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I hope to not derail the thread as it is a good one and insightful to see the many reasons why we are Duke fans...but...i agree with the sentiment here. My enthusiasm for Duke BB has waned considerably since the OAD era and this next year looks like a rinse and repeat. I was also a fan of the Brotherhood concept, as it fosters a feeling of belonging that goes beyond basketball for the players, many of whom need something like that in their lives i suspect...however, does a transfer get to be a part of it? Not being an original Duke recruit and coming in for one year seems more of a mercenary than a brother to me.
 
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denverexpat said:
I hope to not derail the thread as it is a good one and insightful to see the many reasons why we are Duke fans...but...i agree with the sentiment here. My enthusiasm for Duke BB has waned considerably since the OAD era and this next year looks like a rinse and repeat. I was also a fan of the Brotherhood concept, as it fosters a feeling of belonging that goes beyond basketball for the players, many of whom need something like that in their lives i suspect...however, does a transfer get to be a part of it? Not being an original Duke recruit and coming in for one year seems more of a mercenary than a brother to me.
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I know I am probably butchering this but coach k said something about Grayson Allen may be the last great Duke player we see play four years. It is tougher to get to know players and watch them get better these days due to the revolving door. It’s kind of like having a favorite show but there is only one season to get to know the characters. I still love it and am passing the love for Duke basketball to my son. However, I think it would be more difficult these days for a fan without any kind of personal affiliation/influence to become a diehard college basketball fan of any team.

I started thinking that we may not see another number in the rafters. (Since that is the case, Duke needs to go ahead put singler up there.)
 
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One day back in band camp,, after tirelessly playing the flute, I stumbled upon a TV, on my break, and saw jay Williams , and Duke on TV in the ncaa tournament. My Fasha said Dukes “hell to beat, they’re in it every year , probably win it all.” 😂 Sooooo I guess I jumped on as a bandwagon type deal…?…Although I remember literally stomping my feet and crying when they would lose. And I am a Vikings fan as well….So I guess Duke just caught my eye idk
 
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I'm a Duke fan because of Jay Williams. Growing up, my household was 100% Penn State everything, even hoops. For a long, long time, Penn State hoops was horrible so I latched onto Duke, and Jay Williams. Still to this day, I truly think he's top 3 in Duke history.
 
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Hill is definitely one of my favorites. I was never a Laettner guy, ha. He was good, but I've never been drawn to those personality types. But you need them to win no doubt.
 
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wormyone47 said:
NCSU fired Norm Sloan, so I started pulling for Jim Spanarkel and Mike Gminski, been a fan ever since.
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Gman was a little before my time but my grandmother would always talk about him. I took my son to the Duke/ga tech game this year. Gminski was just standing around the scorers table before the game and I thought what the heck. Since he was one of my grandmothers favorite players, I’m going to see if he will take a pic with my son. Gman could not have been any nicer to me and my son. He is a giant so he had to kneel down to make sure he was in the pic with my 7 year old. He has no clue how much that meant to me. Very classy guy.
 
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Gman had no neck. With a neck he was easily 7 ft. 2". And a very skilled player.
 
Grew up 30 minutes from the university of Kansas and was surrounded by KU fans. In 1992 my dad rented me the VHS "Duke is King" about the back to back titles (I was 10). Been a Duke fan ever since and have had many arguments with KU fans over the years.
 
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I was born in the dirty D, at Duke hospital. I was born to be a Duke basketball fan.
 
I liked Alaa Abdelnay’s name when I was 6. Just happened to work out.
 
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