Duke Pays Tribute To Former Coach Vic Bubas, Who Died On Monday
Cameron Indoor Stadium during a Duke game.
The college basketball world lost one of its legendary coaches on Monday morning. Former Duke men's basketball coach Vic Bubas passed away. He was 91.
Bubas led Duke for 10 seasons. He led the Blue Devils to multiple Final Fours, four ACC regular season titles and four ACC Tournament championships.
The head coach had a 213-67 (.761) overall record and went 106-32 (.768) in ACC play.
Duke's current head coach, Mike Krzyzewski, released the following statement.
"Duke Basketball lost a true legend earlier today,” said Krzyzewski. “When I first arrived at Duke, Coach Bubas gave me the best advice. Essentially, he told me to be myself and to focus solely on Duke, while not getting caught up in everything going on around us. We have tried to honor him over the years by playing a level of basketball that lived up to his very high standards, and to those of the program he built here in the 1960s. We offer our deepest sympathy to the Bubas family, particularly to his wife Tootie, as well as their friends and the multitude of great players who attended this university during Coach Bubas’ tenure. He was a terrific coach, and more importantly, a special leader who will be missed greatly."
Bubas was a three-time ACC Coach of the Year. Former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith credits him with making coaches care more about recruiting.
"Vic taught us all how to recruit, we had been starting on prospects in the fall of their senior years while Vic was working on them their junior year. For a while, all of us were trying to catch up with him," he said.
Our thoughts are with Bubas' family and friends. May he rest in peace.
