1978–79 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team

1978–79 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
1978–79 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
	Setting up for a free throw vs. NC State, February 14
ACC regular season co-champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 11
Record	22–8 (9–3 ACC)
Head coach	Bill Foster (5th season);
Assistant coaches	Terry Chili; Steve Steinwedel; Bob Wenzel;
MVP	Jim Spanarkel
Captain	Jim Spanarkel
Home arena	Cameron Indoor Stadium
	Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 ACC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 9 North Carolina †	9	–	3	.750	23	–	6	.793
No. 11 Duke	9	–	3	.750	22	–	8	.733
Virginia	7	–	5	.583	19	–	10	.655
Maryland	6	–	6	.500	19	–	11	.633
Clemson	5	–	7	.417	19	–	10	.655
NC State	3	–	9	.250	18	–	12	.600
Wake Forest	3	–	9	.250	12	–	15	.444

† 1979 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978–79 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University during the 1978–79 college basketball season.

Roster[edit]

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	12	Vince Taylor	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Lexington, KY
G	14	Rob Hardy	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	Columbus, OH
F	20	Gene Banks	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Philadelphia, PA
G	21	Bob Bender	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Crown Point, IN
G	22	John Harrell	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Durham, NC
G	23	Steve Gray	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Woodland Hills, CA
F	24	Harold Morrison	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	West Orange, NJ
G/F	30	Jim Suddath	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	East Point, GA
F	33	Kenny Dennard	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Walnut Cove, NC
G	34	Jim Spanarkel	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Jersey City, NJ
C	43	Mike Gminski	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Jr	Monroe, CT
C	44	Scott Goetsch	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Chatsworth, CA

Head coach

Bill Foster

Assistant coach(es)

Terry Chili
Steve Steinwedel
Bob Wenzel

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Compiled from multiple sources^[1]^[2]

Schedule[edit]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
November 25*	No. 1	at Western Kentucky	W 78–53	1–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
November 27*	No. 1	SMU	W 86–80	2–0	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
December 1*	No. 1	vs. No. 6 N.C. State Big Four Tournament	W 65–63	3–0	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
December 2*	No. 1	vs. No. 14 North Carolina Big Four Tournament	W 78–68	4–0	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
December 5*	No. 1	La Salle	W 66–42	5–0	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
December 13*	No. 1	No. 12 Southern California	W 79–65	6–0	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
December 29*	No. 1	vs. Ohio State ECAC Holiday Tournament	L 84–90	6–1	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
December 30*	No. 1	vs. St. John's ECAC Holiday Tournament	L 66–69	6–2	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
January 2*	No. 1	at Davidson	W 77–59	7–2	Davidson, NC
January 5*	No. 5	vs. No. 15 Long Beach State Holiday Doubleheader	W 79–78	8–2	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
January 6*	No. 5	vs. Tulane Holiday Doubleheader	W 74–64	9–2	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
January 10	No. 7	Clemson	W 73–54	10–2 (1–0)	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
January 13	No. 7	at No. 3 North Carolina	L 68–74	10–3 (1–1)	Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill, NC
January 18	No. 8	Wake Forest	W 81–69	11–3 (2–1)	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
January 21	No. 8	at No. 14 N.C. State	W 75–69	12–3 (3–1)	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
January 24	No. 7	at Virginia	W 84–66	13–3 (4–1)	Charlottesville, VA
January 28*	No. 7	No. 13 Marquette	W 69–64	14–3 (4–1)	Cameroon Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
January 31	No. 3	at Wake Forest	W 75–60	15–3 (5–1)	Winston-Salem, NC
February 3	No. 3	No. 17 Maryland	W 87–78	16–3 (6–1)	Cameroon Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
February 6	No. 3	Virginia	W 64–63	17–3 (7–1)	Cameroon Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
February 10*	No. 3	Pittsburgh	L 69–71	17–4 (7–1)	Cameroon Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
February 14	No. 5	N.C. State	W 66–48	18–4 (8–1)	Cameroon Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
February 16	No. 5	at Maryland	L 68–70	18–5 (8–2)	College Park, MD
February 18*	No. 5	vs. No. 9 Louisville	W 88–72	19–6 (8–2)	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC
February 21	No. 6	at Clemson	L 49–70	19–7 (8–3)	Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, SC
February 24	No. 6	No. 4 North Carolina	W 47–40	20–6 (9–3)	Cameroon Indoor Stadium Cameron, NC
ACC tournament
March 1*		vs. Wake Forest ACC tournament • quarterfinals	W 58–56	21–6	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
March 2*		vs. N.C. State ACC tournament • semifinals	W 62–59	22–6	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
March 3*		vs. North Carolina ACC tournament • final	L 63–71	22–7	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
NCAA tournament
March 11*		vs. St. John's NCAA tournament • second round	L 78–80	22–8	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Compiled from multiple sources^[3]^[4]

Rankings[edit]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	1	1	1	1	1	1	5	7	8	7	3	3	5	6	5	6	11
Coaches	1	—	—	1	1	1	7	7	9	6	4	3	6	7	6	7	Not released

^Coaches did not release week 1 or week 2 polls.

References[edit]

^ "1978–79 Duke men's basketball roster" (PDF). Duke Athletics. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
^ "1978–79 Duke Roster and Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
^ 1978–79 schedule. GoDuke.com Retrieved 2012-11-20.
^ "2019–20 Duke MBB Media Guide" (PDF). Duke Athletics. Duke University. October 14, 2019. p. 174. Retrieved June 30, 2020.

External links[edit]

Media related to 1978–79 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team at Wikimedia Commons
1978–79 Duke Blue Devils on Sports Reference

[1] "1978–79 Duke men's basketball roster" (PDF). Duke Athletics. Retrieved January 29, 2023.

[2] "1978–79 Duke Roster and Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 29, 2023.

[3] 1978–79 schedule. GoDuke.com Retrieved 2012-11-20.

[4] "2019–20 Duke MBB Media Guide" (PDF). Duke Athletics. Duke University. October 14, 2019. p. 174. Retrieved June 30, 2020.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
Venues	The Ark (1906–1923) Alumni Memorial Gymnasium (1924–1930) Card Gymnasium (1930–1939) Cameron Indoor Stadium (1940–present)
Rivalries	Maryland Michigan North Carolina (Carlyle Cup)
Culture & lore	Blue Devil Big Four Tournament Blue blood status Cameron Crazies Champions Classic Dixie Classic I Hate Christian Laettner Krzyzewskiville "The Shot" Tobacco Road 1991 UNLV game
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics