# 2007–08 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team

The 2007–08 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University. The head coach was Mike Krzyzewski, serving for his 28th year. The team played its home games in Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The team finished with a 28–6 (13–3) record, while making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Senior DeMarcus Nelson was the sole senior and captain for the 2007–2008 squad, starting at shooting guard. Junior Greg Paulus (point guard), sophomores Gerald Henderson, Jr. (guard/forward) and Lance Thomas (forward), and freshman Kyle Singler (forward) rounded out the rest of the starting lineup. Jon Scheyer (shooting guard) served as the sixth man, playing significant minutes off the bench.

## Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Taylor King SF | Huntington Beach, California | Santa Ana Mater Dei High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Jan 12, 2006 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 97 ||||||
| Kyle Singler SF | Medford, Oregon | South Medford High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Oct 26, 2006 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 98 ||||||
| Nolan Smith SG | Upper Marlboro, Maryland | Oak Hill Academy (VA) | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jan 12, 2006 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 98 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 6 Rivals: 5 ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Duke Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 24, 2011. "2008 Duke Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved June 24, 2011. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 24, 2011. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved June 24, 2011. "2007 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 24, 2011. ||||||

## Roster

| Name | Number | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown |
| Jordan Davidson | 41 | G | 6–1 | 180 | Junior | Melbourne, Arkansas |
| Gerald Henderson, Jr. | 15 | G | 6–4 | 210 | Sophomore | Merion, Pennsylvania |
| Steve Johnson | 51 | F | 6–5 | 195 | Sophomore | Colorado Springs, Colorado |
| Taylor King | 20 | F | 6–6 | 230 | Freshman | Huntington Beach, California |
| David McClure | 14 | F | 6–6 | 200 | Junior | Ridgefield, Connecticut |
| DeMarcus Nelson(c) | 21 | G | 6–4 | 200 | Senior | Elk Grove, California |
| Greg Paulus | 3 | G | 6–1 | 185 | Junior | Syracuse, New York |
| Martynas Pocius | 5 | G/F | 6–5 | 190 | Junior | Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Jon Scheyer | 30 | G | 6–5 | 180 | Sophomore | Northbrook, Illinois |
| Kyle Singler | 12 | F | 6–8 | 220 | Freshman | Medford, Oregon |
| Nolan Smith | 2 | G | 6–2 | 180 | Freshman | Upper Marlboro, Maryland |
| Lance Thomas | 42 | F | 6–8 | 220 | Sophomore | Scotch Plains, New Jersey |
| Brian Zoubek | 55 | C | 7–1 | 260 | Sophomore | Haddonfield, New Jersey |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 13 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| Coaches | 11 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 9 |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| October 27, 2007* 7:00 pm | | Blue/White Scrimmage | | | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2007* 6:30 pm | | Shaw Exhibition | W 134–55 | | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| November 3, 2007* 5:00 pm | | Barton College Exhibition | W 105–44 | | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 9, 2007* 7:00 pm, ACC Select | No. 11 | North Carolina Central | W 121–56 | 1–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| November 12, 2007* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 10 | New Mexico State | W 86–61 | 2–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| November 19, 2007* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 10 | vs. Princeton EA Sports Maui Invitational Tournament | W 83–61 | 3–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI |
| November 20, 2007* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 10 | vs. Illinois EA Sports Maui Invitational Tournament | W 79–66 | 4–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI |
| November 21, 2007* 10:00 pm, ESPN | No. 10 | vs. No. 11 Marquette EA Sports Maui Invitational Tournament | W 77–73 | 5–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI |
| November 25, 2007* 1:00 pm, FSN | No. 10 | Eastern Kentucky | W 78–43 | 6–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| November 27, 2007* 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 7 | No. 20 Wisconsin ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 85–58 | 7–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| December 1, 2007* 12:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 7 | at Davidson | W 79–73 | 8–0 | Charlotte Bobcats Arena (17,034) Charlotte, NC |
| December 8, 2007* 2:00 pm, CBS | No. 7 | Michigan | W 95–67 | 9–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| December 17, 2007* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | Albany | W 117–70 | 10–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| December 20, 2007* 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 7 | vs. No. 11 Pittsburgh Aeropostale Classic | L 64–65 $^{OT}$ | 10–1 | Madison Square Garden (19,544) New York, NY |
| January 6, 2008* 5:30 pm, FSN | No. 8 | Cornell | W 81–67 | 11–1 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| January 9, 2008* 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 7 | at Temple | W 74–64 | 12–1 | Wachovia Center (18,030) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 13, 2008 8:00 pm, FSN | No. 7 | Virginia | W 87–65 | 13–1 (1–0) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| January 16, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | at Florida State | W 70–57 | 14–1 (2–0) | Donald L. Tucker Center (11,548) Tallahassee, FL |
| January 19, 2008 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | No. 24 Clemson | W 93–80 | 15–1 (3–0) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| January 24, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | Virginia Tech | W 81–64 | 16–1 (4–0) | Cassell Coliseum (9,847) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 27, 2008 6:30 pm, FSN | No. 3 | at Maryland | W 93–84 | 17–1 (5–0) | Comcast Center (17,950) Park, MD |
| January 31, 2008 9:00 pm, Raycom/ESPN2 | No. 3 | North Carolina State | W 92–82 | 18–1 (6–0) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| February 2, 2008 3:30 pm, ABC | No. 3 | Miami (FL) | W 88–73 | 19–1 (7–0) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| February 6, 2008 9:00 pm, Raycom/ESPN | No. 2 | at No. 3 North Carolina | W 89–78 | 20–1 (8–0) | Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC |
| February 9, 2008 1:00 pm, CBS | No. 2 | Boston College | W 90–80 | 21–1 (9–0) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| February 13, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 2 | Maryland | W 77–65 | 22–1 (10–0) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| February 17, 2008 7:30 pm, FSN | No. 2 | at Wake Forest | L 73–86 | 22–2 (10–1) | Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (14,646) Winston-Salem, NC |
| February 20, 2008 9:00 pm, Raycom | No. 4 | at Miami (FL) | L 95–96 | 22–3 (10–2) | BankUnited Center (6,670) Coral Gables, FL |
| February 23, 2008* 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 4 | St. John's | W 86–56 | 23–3 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| February 27, 2008 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | Georgia Tech | W 71–58 | 24–3 (11–2) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| March 1, 2008 12:00 pm, CBS | No. 6 | at North Carolina State | W 87–86 | 25–3 (12–2) | RBC Center (17,742) Raleigh, NC |
| March 5, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | at Virginia | W 86–70 | 26–3 (13–2) | John Paul Jones Arena (14,273) Charlottesville, VA |
| March 8, 2008 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | No. 1 North Carolina ESPN College GameDay | L 68–76 | 26–4 (13–3) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| March 14, 2008 7:00 pm, Raycom/ESPN2 | No. 7 | vs. Georgia Tech ACC Tournament Quarterfinals | W 82–70 | 27–4 | Charlotte Bobcats Arena (20,035) Charlotte, NC |
| March 15, 2008 4:00 pm, Raycom/ESPN | No. 7 | vs. Clemson ACC Tournament Semifinals | L 74–78 | 27–5 | Charlotte Bobcats Arena (20,035) Charlotte, NC |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 20, 2008* 7:10 pm, CBS | No. 9 (2) | vs. No. (15) Belmont First Round | W 71–70 | 28–5 | Verizon Center (18,400) Washington, D.C. |
| March 22, 2008* 2:10 pm, CBS | No. 9 (2) | vs. No. (7) West Virginia Second Round | L 67–73 | 28–6 | Verizon Center (18,400) Washington, D.C. |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Accomplishments

* 15–1 record at home
* Ranked as high as #2 in the AP poll
* Began ACC with 10–0 record
* 8–3 record vs. teams in the NCAA tournament field during the regular season
* 4–2 record vs. ranked teams
* ACC honors:
** DeMarcus Nelson was first team All-ACC and ACC Defensive Player of the Year
** Kyle Singler was third team All-ACC and ACC Rookie of the Year