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The 2017 ACC Tournament was, in retrospect, pretty great.
Duke was seeded #7 after a season full of injuries and had to win three games just to get to the championship game.
Awaiting them was a very tough Notre Dame team. The Irish boasted a roster with Matt Ferrell, Steve Vasturia, VJ Beacham, Rex Pflueger and most of all Bonzi Colson who was unbelievable.
Duke had Amile Jefferson, Frank Jackson, Matt Jones, Luke Kennard, Harry Giles, Grayson Allen and Jayson Tatum.
Tatum has since emerged as a legitimate superstar in the NBA but he was slowed by injuries during his one year at Duke. Harry Giles was also recuperating after a high school knee injury and was nowhere near his potential.
Luke Kennard had emerged as Duke’s most consistent player.
The Blue Devils beat Notre Dame in a taut, exciting championship game in Barclays and earned the ACC’s automatic bid but lost to South Carolina in the second round.
Duke knocked off UNC in the third round of the ACC Tournament before the Tar Heels went on to win the 2017 national championship. Since the turn of the century, the ACC has won eight of 19 national championships.