YouTube Gold: Bill Bradley Scores 58 In The 1965 Final Four

An amazing end to an amazing career

Duke fans are understandably upset about Shelton Mitchell’s late change of heart, but is that the biggest recruiting miss Duke has ever had?

Not even close.

For one, Duke was very much in it with Chris Webber and if he had committed, Mike Krzyzewski would have gone from Christian Laettner to Webber and possibly a four-peat (although that worked out quite well since Webber got Michigan on a significant probation after taking money from a booster).

Even that’s not the biggest. Duke was in it with David Thompson and we heard that Bill Walton had at least somewhat considered the Blue Devils, though that seems less likely.

However, the most definitive big miss was in 1961 when Bill Bradley, who had committed, changed his mind and went to Princeton. We were told that then-coach Vic Bubas was golfing and broke his club when told.

Not unreasonable: Duke would have had Art Heyman, Jeff Mullins and Bradley in 1963 and that team would have been amazing.

In 1962, only one team per conference went and it was Wake Forest’s year: the Demon Deacons made the Final Four.

Duke made it in 1963 and 1964 and for his part, Bradley got Princeton there in 1965. And he didn't waste the trip: normally very much a pass-first player (which would have worked great with Heyman), Bradley scored a record 58 points in the Final Four consolation game against Wichita State (UCLA won its second championship, defeating Michigan).

After graduating, Bradley became a Rhodes Scholar, then played for the New York Knicks and later became a senator.

Quite a life for the almost-Blue Devil.