NCAA Basketball: Ranking of 20 best college teams from last 20 years
By Joey Loose
12. 2015 Duke
Five years removed from their most recent national title, the Blue Devils had continued to build impressive teams, but some of these teams hadn’t quite gotten the job done. A few tough losses and early upsets were unfortunate, but this 2015 team had the talent and moxie to get Duke back in the winner’s circle and deliver Coach K his fifth national title.
The roster was littered with young talent, led by freshmen Jahlil Okafor (17.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg), Justise Winslow (12.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Tyus Jones (11.8 ppg, 5.6 apg). Quinn Cook (15.3 ppg) was the lone senior on the roster and played an immense role, while Amile Jefferson, Matt Jones, and a young Grayson Allen were key cogs in the rotation.
The Blue Devils didn’t win the ACC regular-season or tournament titles but won when it mattered most, knocking out Gonzaga, Michigan State, and Wisconsin in their final three games to win that title. Nearly everyone on the roster would end up playing in the NBA, with Okafor and Winslow remaining stars in the game. With Coach K’s recent retirement, this became his final championship team and certainly one of the most talented rosters he put together with the Blue Devils, with nearly every member of the rotation a previous Top 50 recruit.