Gene Banks Update

The San Antonio Express-News has a great catch-up with former Duke star Gene Banks.

People who never saw him play have no idea of the impact he had at Duke. He was electrifying. No one in Cameron had ever seen anyone at Duke remotely like Banks.

He could do...things. It’s hard to explain with illustrative video. We saw him stand on the baseline and rear back and drop a pass over the defense to a streaking teammate for a layup. He could go up for a rebound and on the way down he could twist his elbows around about seven times. No one got near the guy. It was phenomenal to see. And he kind of...skipped. When he moved around, he skipped...kind of floated.

And of course he had a flair for the big play or grand gesture. In his last game at Duke, in 1981, he did both: he threw roses to the Crazies and hit a dramatic shot over UNC’s Sam Perkins to put the game in overtime.

He was much loved in San Antonio, where the fans took to his outsized personality as much as they did at Duke. Good man, good read.