[ad_1]
DURHAM, N.C. — Bobby Hurley has made himself college basketball royalty inside Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, the jersey kid who became an All-America point guard for two national championship teams.
Moments from that journey — his jersey retirement, the exciting scrimmage with rival North Carolina, the overflowing love from the Blue Devils’ famously rowdy home crowd — remain pristine in his memory. He wanted nothing to change those vibes three decades later, and that’s why he couldn’t help but feel some trepidation about returning Sunday night to Cameron’s opposing sideline with Arizona State in a charity exhibition game.
The good news is that he found open arms waiting for him.
bad? His Sun Devils were treated roughly by the seventh-ranked Blue Devils on the court as he saw many spectators during his own playing days, at times calling timeouts helplessly to halt Duke’s second-half momentum, 103-47. damage
“All the other stuff was outstanding,” Hurley said with a wry smile. “It’s just, sometimes you have to leave it alone or something. So I didn’t want to come back here. … We did it with everybody. It was a tough night, tough night.”
Indeed, the 53-year-old Hurley — who played his final game at Duke in 1993 under now-retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski — was in the awkward position of storing up the emotions stirred by his Duke return but was shocked by Arizona State’s performance in a game he said 16- The team was “fraught with failure” for a team picked to finish 12th in the Big 12.
“Hats off to (the Blue Devil) where,” said Hurley, “and oh—where are we.”
The initial purpose of the “Brotherhood Run” game was to benefit Duke Children’s Hospital, but the opportunity to reconnect with one of the program’s favorite boys in Hurley became its own draw. The slender 6-footer still cuts a significant figure in Duke lore, from hanging his No. 11 jersey in the rafters to owning the NCAA’s assists record (1,076) 31 years ago.
Hurley said on Saturday that he had returned to Cameroon only once before for a game but “felt weird not being on the floor” and did not return.
“I never wanted to come back here because it was so good to me,” Hurley said at the time.
Cameron was good to him again — before tipoff, anyway.
Hurley received a rousing ovation as he exited the visiting tunnel with his right arm raised to acknowledge the cheers near midcourt before hugging current Blue Devils coach John Scheer. He then joined Scheer and Krzyzewski at midcourt for a pregame acknowledgment of the Duke relationship that brought them together, while program and NBA great Grant Hill — Hurley’s Duke teammate for three years — sat behind the scorer’s table.
“It’s an honor to have Bobby back here,” Scheir said. “I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since I watched college basketball. So that moment before playing with him and Coach K meant a lot to me, hopefully meant a lot to him.”
That tribute included a video montage of Harley’s Duke days. There, on Cameron’s new midcourt scoreboard, images of Hurley’s youth flashed across the screen: He took his undersized frame into the paint to finish against a defender, the fearless second-half 3 he hit that helped Duke finally beat UNLV in the 1991 finals. Four, images of arms raised in jubilation after many victories and titles.
As the video played, Hurley and Krzyzewski stood side by side below, conjuring memories of Coach Kay wrapping his left arm around his former student’s shoulder.
Hurley played at Duke from 1990-93, leading the Blue Devils to Krzyzewski’s first two NCAA championships in 1991 and 1992, as well as an appearance in the 1990 title game. Hurley was the Final Four’s most outstanding player during Duke’s repeat run, becoming an Associated Press third-team All-American as a junior and first-team as a senior.
“I absolutely loved coaching Bobby,” Krzyzewski said Saturday.
The trip allowed Hurley to return to familiar spots, including Durham mainstay Bullock’s Bar-B-Q restaurant just off campus for lunch and a chance to jog the campus golf course as he did when he was a student.
He still wears his 1992 title ring as a reminder of those days, though this time he came with family to remind him of how much his first grandchild — a newborn named Rowan — has changed.
Now that the reunion is over, he can turn his attention to the Sun Devils before they host Idaho State in their Nov. 5 opener.
“My granddaughter will never remember this game,” Hurley said. “She’s 3 months old, thank God.”
[ad_2]
