At least one former Duke player has been in the NBA since 1963-’64, when Art Heyman entered the league. Heyman lasted three years in the NBA, then two in the ABA. But lengthy NBA careers by Jeff Mullins (1965-1976) and Jack Marin (1967-1977) kept Duke well-represented in the league deep into the 1970s.
But those mediocre 1970s year caught up. By 1979 Tate Armstrong was Duke’s only NBA representative and he only played 26 games, for the Chicago Bulls.
That all changed in the 1980s, when Mike Gminski (14 seasons), Gene Banks (six), Johnny Dawkins (nine) and Danny Ferry (13) began long and productive NBA careers.