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After Duke beat Wisconsin in 2015’s national championship game, Badger coach Bo Ryan made some bitter comments about one-and-done freshmen.
And Duke had some with Justise Winslow, Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor all declaring for the draft that June.
He kind of missed the mark though because it was another Duke freshman who garotted his best team.
Grayson Allen was virtually unknown to most basketball fans at that point. Duke fans had seen glimpses but only that much. Even most of us didn't expect him to do what he did.
Duke turned to Allen and did he ever deliver. He gave Duke a massive shot of energy and, really, made the win all but inevitable.
It may have been the best off-the-bench performance at Duke since Fred Lind’s in 1968’s triple overtime win over UNC and was unquestionably more important.
Okay, well some people might contest that. But we’ll stick with it. It was a brilliant performance and introduction to a wider audience.
The rest of his college career wasn’t easy in several respects but in 2015, Allen was a breath of fresh air that gave Duke a fifth national championship. Look back and marvel.