In 1986, Coach K got Duke to the Final Four for the first time. With Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas, David Henderson, Johnny Dawkins and Tommy Amaker starting, and Billy King, Danny Ferry and Weldon Williams off the bench, the Blue Devils were ready.
Unfortunately Duke couldn’t contain Pervis Ellison as the freshman shot 10-14 for 25 points, and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Louisville to a narrow 72-69 win.
Years later, Coach K said that had he had more experience, he would have known better how to coach his team through the whole tournament.