1985–86 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team

1985–86 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
1985–86 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Runner-up; ACC tournament champions; ACC regular season champions; NIT Season Tip-Off champions
National Championship Game, ; L 69-72 vs. Louisville
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	37–3 (12–2 ACC)
Head coach	Mike Krzyzewski (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Bob Bender; Tom Rogers; Chuck Swenson;
Home arena	Cameron Indoor Stadium

1985–86 ACC men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 †	12	–	2	.857	37	–	3	.925
No. 6 Georgia Tech	11	–	3	.786	27	–	7	.794
No. 8 North Carolina	10	–	4	.714	28	–	6	.824
NC State	7	–	7	.500	21	–	13	.618
Virginia	7	–	7	.500	19	–	11	.633
Maryland	6	–	8	.429	19	–	14	.576
Clemson	3	–	11	.214	19	–	15	.559
Wake Forest	0	–	14	.000	8	–	21	.276

† 1986 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

A poster released by the team at the beginning of the season

The 1985–86 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University. The head coach was Mike Krzyzewski. The team played its home games in the Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, and was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Blue Devils finished with an overall record of 37–3 (12–2 ACC). Duke was invited to the 1986 NCAA Tournament as a #1 seed. With wins over Mississippi Valley State, Old Dominion, DePaul and Navy put the Blue Devils back in the Final Four for the first time since 1978. One more victory over the Kansas Jayhawks put Duke in the championship game. But the Blue Devils came up short vs the Louisville Cardinals 72–69.

Roster

1985–86 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	4	Tommy Amaker	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	Jr	W.T. Woodson	Falls Church, Virginia
G	12	David Henderson	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Warren County	Henderson, North Carolina
G	14	Quin Snyder	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Mercer Island	Mercer Island, Washington
C	21	Jay Bilas	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Rolling Hills	Rolling Hills Estates, California
G	24	Johnny Dawkins	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sr	Mackin Catholic	Washington, D.C.
G	31	Kevin Strickland	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	North Surry	Mount Airy, North Carolina
PF	32	Mark Alarie	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Brophy Prep	Phoenix, Arizona
F	33	John Smith	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	—	Fort Washington, Maryland
F	35	Danny Ferry	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	DeMatha Catholic	Hyattsville, Maryland
F	40	Weldon Williams	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Crete-Monee	Park Forest, Illinois
C	51	Martin Nessley	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	Jr	Whitehall-Yearling	Whitehall, Ohio
F	55	Billy King	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Park View	Sterling, Virginia

Head coach

Mike Krzyzewski

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site city, state
Regular season
November 21* 10:00 p.m., Mizlou	No. 6	vs. Lamar	W 66–62	1–0	18 – Henderson	7 – Alarie, Henderson	4 – Amaker	The Summit (1,250) Houston, TX
November 24* Mizlou	No. 6	No. 16 UAB	W 66–54	2–0	18 – Dawkins	11 – Ferry	–	The Summit (947) Houston, TX
November 26* 7:30 p.m.	No. 6	at William & Mary	W 84–61	3–0	28 – Dawkins	7 – Ferry	–	William & Mary Hall (6,400) Williamsburg, VA
November 29* Mizlou/USA	No. 6	No. 18 St. John's Preseason NIT Semi-Finals	W 71–70	4–0	20 – Dawkins	8 – Ferry	–	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
December 1* Mizlou/USA	No. 6	No. 5 Kansas Preseason NIT Championship	W 92–86	5–0	30 – Henderson	7 – Alarie	–	Madison Square Garden (8,598) New York, NY
December 2* 7:30 p.m.	No. 6	East Carolina	W 98–66	6–0	25 – Alarie	8 – Alarie	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
December 4* 7:30 p.m.	No. 3	Vanderbilt	W 84–74	7–0	21 – Dawkins	8 – Ferry	–	Memorial Gymnasium (14,287) Nashville, TN
December 7 9:00 p.m.	No. 3	Virginia	W 72–64	8–0 (1–0)	24 – Dawkins	10 – Henderson	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
December 18* 7:30 p.m.	No. 3	at Davidson	W 69–52	9–0	13 – Alarie	9 – Ferry	–	Charlotte Coliseum (7,791) Charlotte, NC
December 28* 1:30 p.m.	No. 3	Appalachian State	W 88–46	10–0	16 – Dawkins	8 – Bilas	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
December 30* 7:30 p.m.	No. 3	Northwestern	W 78–55	11–0	21 – Dawkins	8 – Ferry	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
January 4 9:00 p.m.	No. 3	at Maryland Rivalry	W 81–75	12–0 (2–0)	25 – Henderson	7 – Ferry, Henderson	–	Cole Field House (14,500) College Park, MD
January 8* 7:30 p.m.	No. 3	St. Louis	W 84–58	13–0	21 – Alarie	6 – Ferry	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
January 11 12:00 p.m.	No. 3	NC State	W 74–64	14–0 (3–0)	24 – Alarie	8 – Henderson	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
January 13* 7:00 p.m.	No. 3	at St. Joseph's	W 87–66	15–0	22 – Alarie	9 – Alarie	–	The Palestra (9,208) Philadelphia, PA
January 16 9:00 p.m.	No. 3	Wake Forest	W 92–63	16–0 (4–0)	17 – Henderson	6 – Bilas, Henderson	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
January 18 1:30 p.m., Raycom/JP	No. 3	at No. 1 North Carolina Rivalry	L 92–95	16–1 (4–1)	24 – Henderson	7 – Henderson	–	Dean Smith Center (21,444) Chapel Hill, NC
January 21 9:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 2	at No. 4 Georgia Tech	L 80–87	16–2 (4–2)	26 – Alarie	8 – Alarie	–	Alexander Memorial Coliseum (7,126) Atlanta, GA
January 25 9:00 p.m.	No. 2	Maryland	W 80–68	17–2 (5–2)	24 – Dawkins	8 – Bilas	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
January 27* 7:30 p.m.	No. 2	Harvard	W 89–52	18–2	14 – Henderson	10 – Bilas	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
January 29 7:30 p.m.	No. 5	Clemson	W 89–78	19–2 (6–2)	29 – Alarie	7 – Alarie	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
February 1 1:30 p.m.	No. 5	at Wake Forest	W 68–58	20–2 (7–2)	20 – Alarie	9 – Bilas, Ferry, Alarie	–	Greensboro Coliseum (13,300) Greensboro, NC
February 6 7:30 p.m.	No. 4	at Virginia	W 77–65	21–2 (8–2)	20 – Dawkins, Henderson	7 – Bilas, Ferry	–	University Hall (9,000) Charlottesville, VA
February 9 1:00 p.m., NBC	No. 4	No. 2 Georgia Tech	W 75–59	22–2 (9–2)	24 – Alarie	9 – Alarie	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
February 11* 8:00 p.m.	No. 2	Stetson	W 85–66	23–2	18 – Dawkins	10 – Alarie	–	Ocean Center (5,387) Daytona Beach, FL
February 15 7:30 p.m.	No. 2	No. 17 NC State	W 72–70	24–2 (10–2)	24 – Dawkins	7 – Alarie	–	Reynolds Coliseum (12,400) Raleigh, NC
February 16* 1:00 p.m., NBC	No. 2	No. 14 Notre Dame	W 75–74	25–2	22 – Alarie	8 – Dawkins	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
February 19* 7:30 p.m.	No. 2	Miami (FL)	W 104–82	26–2	18 – Alarie	9 – Ferry	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
February 2* 4:00 p.m., CBS	No. 2	No. 10 Oklahoma	W 93–84	27–2	28 – Henderson	8 – Henderson	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
February 26 7:30 p.m.	No. 1	Clemson	W 77–69	28–2 (11–2)	27 – Dawkins	11 – Henderson	–	Littlejohn Coliseum (8,736) Clemson, SC
March 2 1:00 p.m.	No. 1	No. 3 North Carolina	W 82–74	29–2 (12–2)	27 – Henderson	5 – Amaker	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC
ACC tournament
March 7*	No. 1	vs. Wake Forest Quarterfinals	W 68–60	30–2	22 – Alarie	6 – Alarie, Bilas	–	Greensboro Coliseum (16,242) Greensboro, NC
March 8*	No. 1	vs. Virginia Semifinals	W 75–70	31–2	24 – Dawkins	9 – Henderson	–	Greensboro Coliseum (16,242) Greensboro, NC
March 9*	No. 1	vs. No. 6 Georgia Tech Championship	W 68–67	32–2	20 – Dawkins	8 – Bilas, Ferry	–	Greensboro Coliseum (16,242) Greensboro, NC
NCAA tournament
March 13* ESPN (via NCAA Productions)	(1 E) No. 1	vs. (16 E) Mississippi Valley State First Round	W 85–78	33–2	27 – Dawkins	11 – Ferry	4 – Snyder	Greensboro Coliseum (8,328) Greensboro, NC
March 15* ESPN	(1 E) No. 1	vs. Old Dominion Second Round	W 89–61	34–2	25 – Dawkins	14 – Alarie	7 – Amaker	Greensboro Coliseum (12,096) Greensboro, NC
March 21* ESPN	(1 E) No. 1	DePaul Sweet Sixteen	W 74–67	35–2	25 – Dawkins	10 – Dawkins	Amaker – Amaker	Brendan Byrne Arena (19,454) East Rutherford, NJ
March 23* CBS	(1 E) No. 1	No. 17 Navy Elite Eight	W 71–50	36–2	28 – Dawkins	10 – Bilas	5 – Amaker	Brendan Byrne Arena (19,454) East Rutherford, NJ
March 29* CBS	(1 E) No. 1	vs. No. 2 Kansas Final Four	W 71–67	37–2	24 – Dawkins	8 – Alarie	6 – Amaker	Reunion Arena (16,493) Dallas, TX
March 31* CBS	(1 E) No. 1	vs. No. 7 Louisville NCAA Championship	L 69–72	37–3	24 – Dawkins	6 – Alarie	7 – Amaker	Reunion Arena (16,493) Dallas, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

^[1]^[2]

Rankings

^[3]

Awards and honors

Mike Krzyzewski, ACC Coach of the Year
Johnny Dawkins, Naismith College Player of the Year

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1986	1	10	Johnny Dawkins	San Antonio Spurs
1986	1	18	Mark Alarie	Denver Nuggets
1986	3	58	David Henderson	Washington Bullets
1986	5	108	Jay Bilas	Dallas Mavericks
1987	3	55	Tommy Amaker	Seattle SuperSonics
1987	6	116	Martin Nessley	Los Angeles Clippers
1989	1	2	Danny Ferry	Los Angeles Clippers

^[4]

References

^ GoDuke.StatsGeek.com. Retrieved 2015-May-31.
^ The Chronicle, 1986. Retrieved 2020-October-20.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 932–933. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1986 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.

External links

Schedule and results via Sports Reference

[1] GoDuke.StatsGeek.com. Retrieved 2015-May-31.

[2] The Chronicle, 1986. Retrieved 2020-October-20.

[ESPN-3] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 932–933. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[4] "1986 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
Venues	The Ark (1906–1923) Alumni Memorial Gymnasium (1924–1930) Card Gymnasium (1930–1939) Cameron Indoor Stadium (1940–present)
Rivalries	Maryland Michigan North Carolina (Carlyle Cup)
Culture & lore	Blue Devil Big Four Tournament Blue blood status Cameron Crazies Champions Classic Dixie Classic I Hate Christian Laettner Krzyzewskiville "The Shot" Tobacco Road 1991 UNLV game
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics