Famous Duke Basketball Alum Gets Emotional Talking to Football Team
It's understandable if some Duke basketball fans are easily annoyed by the know-it-all voice and personality of ESPN's well-known former Blue Devil on the college hoops scene, Jay Bilas. But after hearing his recent speech to Mike Elko's second Duke football squad, nobody can question Bilas' deep love for his alma mater.
Yes, the 59-year-old Bilas, part of now-retired head coach Mike Krzyzewski's first stellar recruiting class in the 1980s, sometimes comes across as an anti-Duke broadcaster. Perhaps he feels that's necessary to guard against the "homer" tag.
And although he's wearing what appears to be a strangely UNC-colored Duke polo in the video below — maybe it's just the lighting in the room — there's no denying his teary-eyed motivational talk below, centered on pride in the "D" on his chest, is as pro-Duke as Blue Devil faithful could ever hope to see:
"I can't wear this [shirt] on the air," Bilas explained to Elko's bunch. "I'm an objective observer of the game of basketball...But I played here. I went to school here. This [Duke logo] means a ton. All of us in this room get to do some unbelievably cool things in our careers. And if you're not careful, you can start to think it's routine.
"Don't take special for granted...When you put this [Duke logo] on, man, you're the only ones in America that know what this is like — the only ones...Treat it as special as it is..."
On Wednesday, the temporarily named "Camp Wally Wade" account posted a picture of 35-year-old Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer checking in with the 46-year-old Elko on Wallace Wade Stadium's Brooks Field.
As one can see, the camaraderie looks strong between the school's second-year head coaches:
The Blue Devils finished 9-4 last season. They played in a bowl game for the first time since 2018 and picked up a feel-good 30-13 Military Bowl victory over UCF, altogether leading to July's restructured contract extension for Elko through the 2029 season.
Granted, the Duke football schedule looks considerably more challenging this go-round, beginning with a home battle against defending ACC champion Clemson on Sept 4.
Matching or exceeding nine wins won't be easy.
Nevertheless, with the return of potential darkhorse Heisman candidate Riley Leonard at quarterback and a long list of notable returning pieces on both sides of the ball, not to mention some extra preseason motivation from the likes of Jay Bilas, expectations in Durham are higher than they've been in years.
Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball and football news.
