Sports

Devils, Wolverines leave past behind

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Most of the players who will be on the court today when Michigan meets Duke in a third-round West Regional game were toddlers when the “Fab Five” and the Blue Devils clashed in their battles of substance versus style.

The last time these two teams met in the NCAA tournament was when Duke defeated the fabled freshmen 71-51 in the 1992 championship game, a rivalry revisited during the recently aired “Fab Five” documentary on ESPN. During the documentary, former Wolverine Jalen Rose, an executive producer, said he “hated everything Duke stood for,” adding, “Schools like Duke didn’t recruit players like me.” For added insult he called black players recruited by Duke “Uncle Toms.”

So they meet 19 years later, but if you think either team is out to defend the legacy of their alumni, think again. That was then. This is now, and one has little to do with the other.

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“It’s just something for people to talk about,” Duke forward Kyle Singler said. “We’re playing for this year and this year’s team. We’re not really focused on what’s happened in the past.”

Michigan forward Zack Novak said his teammates aren’t about to get nostalgic either.

“That was something that happened 20 years ago,” he said. “It was a great rivalry. Right now we’re just thinking about present day, Duke versus present day Michigan. All the other stuff is just really off to the side.”

Back then Duke and Michigan were both national powers, but today Michigan is trying to rebuild its program after being leveled by NCAA sanctions stemming back to the “Fab Five” era. This is just its second appearance in the NCAAA tournament since 1998, and the second under coach John Beilein.

Coming off an impressive 75-45 whipping of ninth-seeded Tennessee on Friday night, the Wolverines (21-13) would feel their program has arrived with a win over the top-seeded and defending national champion Blue Devils (31-4).

“We had a losing record when I committed here,” Michigan sophomore guard Darius Morris said. “It was Coach B’s goal to bring the program back to prominence. It would mean a lot to beat the national defending champs and advance to the Sweet 16. It would be great for the people in this locker room and great for the city of Ann Arbor and great for the fans.”

This Michigan team is a lot like Duke is some ways. They work the high-percentage shot, play team defense and emphasize rebounding and minimizing turnovers. But they also have “Fab Five” traits. They still wear black socks and baggy pants and there’s that underdog mentality that serves as fuel.

“We’ve all embraced that chip that we play with on our shoulder,” Morris said. “I think it definitely helps us and is the reason why we fight so hard just to prove everybody wrong.”

They’ll need all they can get against Duke. With freshman guard Kyrie Irving back and looking healthy after scoring 14 points in an 87-45 destruction of 16th-seeded Hampton on Friday, the Blue Devils look primed for a repeat.

“All these guys are really great players,” Beilein said of Duke. “They’ve got great experience, great quickness, and we respect it. We’ll just do the best we can at being fundamentally sound.”