A very different era of Duke basketball was starting to wind down in 1967
The Vic Bubas era was vastly different than what we’ve seen in Durham since 1978. First, the South was still segregated when Bubas took the job in 1960. Dean Smith started at UNC in 1961 and as progressive as he was, he had to wait several years before recruiting Charlie Scott as UNC’s first Black player.
That’s one of the most obvious things you’ll see in this video from Duke’s 1967 win over West Virginia, which, ironically enough, is in black and white.
But you’ll see a glimpse of some legendary Duke players in 1966-67 including Mike Lewis and Bob Verga. Steve Vandenberg, who could play piano like Jerry Lee Lewis, down to using his feet on the keyboard, was also on the team. So was Tony Barone, who went on to a solid coaching career and Fred Lind, who carved out a unique role in Duke history after playing a key role in a triple-overtime win over UNC in his senior season.
And while you won’t see him on the court here, C.B. Claiborne, Duke’s first Black player, is on the roster.
Bubas’s 1966 team was in the Final Four and was probably the favorite before Verga came down with food poisoning. Verga was one of the greatest outside shooters in Duke history and would have been a devastating weapon in the three-point era.
It worked out okay for the Blue Devils though. All-white Kentucky beat Duke in the semifinals before famously losing to Texas Western.
That team was known as Rupp’s Runts because it was so small. With the powerful Lewis, Verga and future NBA All-Star Jack Marin, the Blue Devils might have beat Texas Western, but obviously, we’ll never know.
As it turned out, Kentucky got to be the team that lost to the Miners and that was tagged as the last segregated team to play for the championship. Duke had already begun to integrate with Claiborne, but in 1966, freshmen weren't eligible, so the story would have been much the same.
