Here are the responses from people who said Bob Verga was their all-time favorite. He was an amazing shooter and immensely competitive. A general Duke belief is that the Devils would have won it all in '66 had Verga not been sick. Enjoy!
As a kid, my first Duke hero was Bob Verga! what a great outside shooter. 30 points against Wake on "Bob Verga" night, his last home game as a senior. Many years later at the Duke's Children Classic, I saw him playing doubles with Franco Harris. After they had finished I said hello and told him that he was my favorite player as a kid and that I still had the newspaper clipping from his senior night. I think it surprised him! Any yes, I still have the newspaper article.
I have two favorite players: Bob Verga and Mark Alarie. The reason I fell in love with Bob Verga was because of his jump shot and accuracy but also I was of the teenage years when you were infatuated with sports stars. Bob Verga was a fraternity brother of my brother and one night, Rea brought him home for dinner. He drove up in a Corvette and that was it!
Mark Alarie was my second favorite player. I thought he was so cute! He always played his hardest and was a consummate "team player." I still remember when he got that hip pointer injury which destroyed a lot of dreams.
I have loved to watch many more Duke players but these were my favorite players at different stages of my life.
Helen Ferrell Morton
Bob Verga. I was a kid when he can along and he could shoot the lights out. I would love to have seen him play with the three point shot. Back in the old days Duke would play in Charlotte from time to time and we would travel up from Columbia to see them play there and at State. My parents were from Cary NC and Mom was a State fan and Dad a Duke fan. Never did get to go to Cameron. Dad had six brothers and a sister and they were all State fans and they wouldn't go with us. If we were in Columbia and Duke was playing my Dad, Brother and I would go out and sit in the car and listen on the radio. We got better reception out there. If it would fad out and it was a close game we would ride around until we found a hill or a spot that had better reception. Dad became a Duke fan due to Dick Groat and later Art Heyman. He was a huge baseball fan.
Bob Verga. Best Duke shooter of all time. Yes, better than JJ.
Bob was the JJ Reddick of my era. I enjoyed watching him toss in those long range bombs from all over the court.
Not many Duke fans will name this player, much less remember him. We did not win a national championship during his years but barring illness we probably would have beaten Kentucky in the final 4 and gone on to beat Texas Western for our 1st trophy...once featured in a Sports illustrated spread...still holds the single season scoring record at 26.1....and no doubt would still be the all time Duke scorer if there had been a 3 point line and if freshmen had been able to play during his era...to my knowledgs has never returned for the alumni game...a tough guy with a beautiful jump shot...lucky if he was truly 6 feet tall...floppy hair and a flair for the game...number 11...Bob Verga
I wrote a fan letter to Art Heyman at 6 or 7 years old in Durham. He visited my 2 brothers and I and taught us how to play basketball and drove us around in his convertible.He did get into fights and was a controversial player off the court, but he was one cool basketball star to me.
I also liked Bob Verga who holds the single season scoring average for Duke. He was a 6'1 shooting guard that probably would have averaged over 30 a game if there had been a 3 pt shot. If he hadn't gotten mono in 66 we may have won the National Championship though beating Kentucky with Pat Riley and then beating Texas Western would have been difficult even with a healthy Verga.
Bob Verga! I was just a kid and had just started rooting for Duke when my older brother went there. Bob Verga was the classic shooter and scorer, similar to Jerry West and, now, JJ Reddick. He just would not and could not be stopped. Had he not been sick against Kentucky in the the 1966 Final Four, I think Duke would have been National Champ that year. Bobby Verga also was "cool" long before "cool" became fashionable. He was simply an incredible competitor, and my first favorite Devil