YouTube Gold: Kansas Visits Cameron
In 1989, Mike Krzyzewski was already Coach K, but Roy Williams had not yet arrived. Wouldn’t take long.
DALLAS, TX - MARCH 29: Danny Ferry #35 of the Duke Blue Devils drives to the hoop against the Kansas Jayhawks during the 1986 NCAA Men's Basketball Semifinals held at Reunion Arena on March 29, 1986 in Dallas, Texas. Duke defeated Kansas 71-67 to advance to the championship game. (Photo by Rich Clarkson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) | NCAA Photos via Getty Images P eople tend to look at coaches like Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski and just assume that they were always going to be great.
They forget about the struggles. It took Coach K a few years to establish his Duke program, and plenty of people wanted him gone before he did. Roy Williams took the Kansas job in 1988, after Larry Brown fled Lawrence, leaving Williams with probation for his first season.
Williams got the job with a strong recommendation from his boss at UNC, Dean Smith. And in his first season, Williams brought his Jayhawks to Cameron on a six-game losing streak. Worse, this was the game when Duke would retire Danny Ferry’s jersey.
It was asking a lot, and, true to form, Duke kicked Kansas when it was down. The Blue Devils hammered Kansas, 102-77, sending the Jayhawks to their seventh consecutive loss and dropping them to 16-10. Williams’s first season in Lawrence was a bit bumpy, but the teams would meet again in the NCAA Finals two years later, a game the Blue Devils won, 72-65.