Per Duke Sports Information
Countdown to Craziness Presented by PNC Tickets Go On Sale Saturday
Single Game Tickets Also On Sale Tomorrow
Friday, Oct. 3
DURHAM, N.C. — The Duke men’s basketball team officially opened the 2014-15 season with a Friday afternoon practice, but the general public will have its first opportunity to celebrate the Blue Devils Saturday, Oct. 25 with the sixth annual Countdown to Craziness presented by PNC. Tickets, with prices beginning at $25, go on sale online (www.GoDuke.com/tickets) at 8:00 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 4 with ticket office windows opening at Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday, Oct. 6 at 8:30 a.m.
Single game tickets for select games will also go on sale Saturday morning.
Countdown to Craziness, one of the premier season-opening events in college basketball, features live student performances, highlight videos, sponsored promotions as well as the annual Blue-White game and dunk contest. The doors to Cameron open at 6:30 p.m. but fans are invited to come out early for live music, inflatable games and face painting in K’Ville.
Duke returns seven letterwinners, including four players with starting experience, from last year’s team that finished 26-9 overall and 13-5 in league play. Senior Quinn Cook along with juniors Amile Jefferson, Marshall Plumlee and Rasheed Sulaimon provide a solid veteran core for the Blue Devils. Cook averaged 11.6 points, 4.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game, while Sulaimon contributed 9.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assist per game a year ago. Jefferson scored 6.5 points per game on an efficient 64.4 percent shooting and ranked among the ACC leaders in rebounding (6.9 rpg.) as a sophomore. Plumlee came on strong in the second part of the 2013-14 season and averaged 1.3 points and 2.2 rebounds in just over eight minutes per game. Talented sophomores Matt Jones and Semi Ojeleye also return after gaining valuable experience a year ago.
The Blue Devils also welcome in the top recruiting class in the country in Grayson Allen, Tyus Jones, Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow. All four newcomers were McDonald’s All-American selections and ranked among the top 40 players in the class. Allen, an elite athlete and outstanding long range shooter, averaged 22.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game as a senior in leading Providence School to the state semifinals. Jones, the top-rated point guard in the 2014 class, is three-time Gatorade Minnesota Boys Basketball Player of the Year and closed out his high school career with school records in points (2,909), assists (1,031) and steals (369).
Okafor, the 2014 Morgan Wootten National High School Player of the Year, averaged 24.1 points and 11.3 rebounds as a senior at Whitney Young to lead the team to a 28-5 record and a 4A state title, while Winslow averaged 27.5 points and 13.6 rebounds per game as a senior and was named Gatorade Texas Boys Basketball Player of the Year two times in his career. Jones, Okafor and Winslow also have extensive USA Basketball experience with each player earning three gold medals with the program. Jones and Winslow were starters on the 2014 FIBA Americas U18 championship team.
Duke will also play exhibition games against Livingstone (Nov. 4) and Central Missouri (Nov. 8) before opening the season with a Friday, Nov. 14 home contest against Presbyterian.
Persons with disabilities who purchase tickets to Countdown to Craziness are urged to review the new policies and procedures regarding accessible seating available via www.goduke.com/gameday and the Men’s Basketball A-Z Game Day Guide.
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